Lack of drugs for use in pregnancy ‘resulting in needless deaths’ in UK

Experts call for urgent investment and effort to transform pregnant women's access to modern medicine

Women and babies in the UK are dying needlessly" because of a lack of suitable medicines to use in pregnancy, according to a report that calls for a radical overhaul of maternal health.

A profound" shortage of research and the widespread exclusion of pregnant and breastfeeding women from clinical trials means hardly any new drugs are approved for common medical problems in pregnancy or soon after childbirth, the report finds.