Calls for pre-eclampsia test for pregnant mothers heaps pressure on ministers to finally appoint Women’s Health Champion
Mums demand urgent appointment of health ambassador promised last year
New calls for urgent action to introduce a life-saving test for mothers-to-be in Scotland is increasing pressure on ministers to appoint the country’s first Women’s Health Champion.
The appointment was said to be pivotal when the Scottish Government’s plan to improve healthcare for women was announced last year. However, it later emerged the position might not be filled for three years.
After The Post raised the voices of patients and leading charities demanding the appointment was made urgently, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon promised a champion, to protect and improve health services for women, would be appointed “by the end of the summer”. Women endure poorer care and outcomes across a range of conditions including heart attacks, strokes and some cancers.
England announced a Women’s Health Ambassador – leading gynaecologist Professor Dame Lesley Regan – in June to support the implementation of its forthcoming Women’s Health Strategy.
Now, months after we revealed calls for Scotland to follow England and many other countries around the world to introduce a simple, cheap test to identify pregnant women at risk of lifethreatening pre-eclampsia, more women are demanding action.
The test, called PlGF, is able to detect women at risk of the condition linked to dangerously high blood pressure that risks the lives of mothers and babies.
Adele Davidson, 27, from Bridge of Don, who became dangerously ill last September shortly before her baby son was born, said: “How long do women have to become seriously ill before adequate care and attention is given to us?
“I developed pre-eclampsia, which threatened to kill me and my son, Odin. The test to diagnose it early is available in England, but not Scotland. We need a Women’s Health Champion to ensure the best of care for all women. Surely, that must be a priority.”
The demands to appoint a promised Women’s Health Champion in Scotland come as research suggests the number of years women in Scotland can expect to live in good health has fallen. The British Medical Journal suggested there has been no change in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Earlier this year, we reported an open letter from 17 leading charities calling for a Women’s Health Champion to be appointed swiftly. In an open letter to women’s health minister Maree Todd, the charities – including Alzheimzer’s Scotland, British Menopause Society and Chest Heart and Stroke Scotland – said women should not wait any longer. The charities cited alarming gaps and inequalities.
Baroness Julia Cumberlege, the author of a review laying bare the betrayal of women by the medical establishment, described the failure to take action on her recommendations – including the appointment of a Patients’ Safety Commissioner – as “deeply disappointing”.
Scottish Labour Women’s Health spokesperson Carol Mochan said: “The longer the SNP drag their feet delivering the Women’s Health Plan, the longer women in Scotland will continue to be failed.
“This appointment must be made with the urgency needed, and crucially this job must be backed up by real action and investment across the board to transform women’s healthcare.”
The Scottish Government said: “It remains our intention to appoint the Women’s Health Champion this summer.”
On the screening for preeclampsia, it said: “The Scottish Government is determined to ensure women receive high-quality, safe care including in the diagnosis, prevention and treatment of pre-eclampsia. We are working with the Scottish Perinatal Network to examine the adoption of PlGF testing for pre-eclampsia in Scotland. This will include consideration of the National Institute for Clinical Excellence guidance on PlGF (DG23) published on July 27, 2022.”