Pregnancy infectious diseases screening in Scotland
Pregnancy screening for hepatitis B: 1 April 2021 to 31 March 2024

About this release

This is the first annual release from Public Health Scotland (PHS) providing information on pregnancy infectious diseases screening in Scotland for the financial years 2021/22 to 2023/24. Screening for three infectious diseases (HIV, hepatitis B, and syphilis) is offered to all pregnant women as part of NHS antenatal care in Scotland. Screening aims to identify pregnant women who may have one of these infections so that timely treatment can be given to prevent the infection being passed to the baby.

This first release provides information on the number of women eligible for pregnancy infectious diseases screening, and the coverage and results of pregnancy screening for hepatitis B. Information on pregnancy screening for HIV and syphilis will be added to subsequent releases when national data quality allows. The coverage of screening is defined as the percentage of women eligible for screening who have a screening result available.

Main points

Among 50,627 women eligible for pregnancy infectious diseases screening in the financial year 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024:

• 97% (49,192 / 50,627) received pregnancy screening for hepatitis B.
• 80% (40,591 / 50,627) received pregnancy screening for hepatitis B in early pregnancy (that is, at less than 12 weeks + 0 days (<12+0) gestation).
  • Overall coverage of screening, and coverage in early pregnancy, varied by NHS board of residence, mainly reflecting differences between boards in the timing of screening relative to the date of antenatal booking (see below for further details).
  • In boards where screening is typically provided after the booking appointment, some women who are identified as eligible for screening at their booking appointment will lose their pregnancy (through miscarriage or termination of pregnancy) before they have the opportunity to receive their screening. Reported coverage of screening will therefore be reduced in these boards.

This figure shows the percentage of women eligible for pregnancy infectious diseases screening that had pregnancy screening for hepatitis B, by gestation of screening provision and NHS board of residence for the financial year 2023/24. For each NHS board of residence, the percentage of eligible women that had pregnancy screening is shown by screening provision at less than 12 weeks and 0 days gestation, screening provision at 12 weeks and 0 days gestation to 23 weeks and 6 days gestation and screening provision at 24 week and 0 days gestation or later. The percentage of women eligible for pregnancy infectious diseases screening who had screening at less than 12 weeks was over 75% in all NHS boards except NHS Fife where it was 39.8%. The percentage of eligible women who had screening between 12 weeks and 0 days gestation and 23 weeks and 6 days gestation varied from 7.0% in NHS Highland to 49.2% for NHS Fife, and the percentage who had screening on or after 24 weeks and 0 days gestation was less than 3.0% in all NHS boards.

Close

Coverage of pregnancy screening for hepatitis B, by the stage of pregnancy (gestation) at which screening was provided and NHS board of residence, Scotland, 2023/24

• 70% (34,227 / 49,192) of women who received pregnancy screening for hepatitis B had their screening provided on the same day as their antenatal booking.
  • This varied markedly by NHS board of residence from 2% (69 / 2,941) of women living in NHS Fife to 94% (11,085 / 11,811) of women living in NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde.
• 0.2% (108 / 49,192) of women who received pregnancy screening for hepatitis B had a positive screening result.
  • This varied by maternal characteristics (that is, NHS board of residence, age, area level deprivation, ethnicity and English spoken as a first language at home) but, in all groups, the percentage of screened women that received a positive screening result was very low.

Background

These statistics were developed as part of a programme of work funded by the Scottish Government Chief Scientist Office to develop national data and intelligence on pregnancy and newborn screening and the associated conditions in Scotland (award reference: AHRP/23/77).

These statistics relate to the following national policies: the Scottish equity in screening strategy 2023 to 2026, the Rare Disease Action Plan, the Sexual health and blood borne virus action plan 2023 to 2026, and the HIV transmission elimination delivery plan 2023-26 for ending HIV transmission in Scotland by 2030.

Summary information on the pregnancy infectious diseases screening programme and on hepatitis B, is available on NHS Inform.

Pregnancy infectious diseases screening is highly recommended, however as screening is provided on the basis of informed choice, a woman's decision to decline screening would be respected. Women may decline screening for any (or all) of the three conditions screened for.

These statistics use data from the Scottish Linked Pregnancy and Baby Dataset (SLiPBD) to identify women eligible for pregnancy infectious diseases screening, and the Electronic Communication of Surveillance Scotland (ECOSS) system to identify hepatitis B screening test results.

PHS publishes an annual report on the surveillance of hepatitis B in Scotland and statistics on the pregnancy chromosomal condition screening programme for Down's syndrome, Edwards' syndrome, and Patau's syndrome.

Further information

The next release of this publication will be September 2027.