The British Pharmacological Society (BPS) has published a position statement on medication use during pregnancy and breastfeeding.
The statement sets out a series of recommendations, including calling for the inclusion of this patient group in clinical trials, where it is safe and appropriate to do so.
To help achieve this, it also recommends the use of a 'pregnancy and breastfeeding investigation' plan as part of the design of clinical trials.
We've welcomed the position statement, which aligns with work we are doing with the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) to encourage greater inclusion in research.
Naho Yamazaki, Deputy Director of Policy and Partnerships at the Health Research Authority"We work to ensure that health and social care research is done with and for everyone so that we can all benefit from research findings.
“Including a diverse group of people in clinical trials helps to provide more robust data on whether a medical product benefits everyone, or if they work differently for different groups of people. It also helps to prevent groups of people from being underrepresented in research and missing out on being able to benefit from medical advances, which can exacerbate health inequalities.
“To encourage greater inclusion in research, we are currently working with the MHRA to develop guidance on how to create an Inclusion and Diversity Plan to support researchers to include a diverse range of people in the clinical trials that are relevant to them.
"This aligns with the British Pharmacological Society’s recommendation for developing a ‘pregnancy and breastfeeding investigation plan’ to help include this group in research and ensure they can benefit from research findings."
Inclusion and diversity in research
We're working with the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) to create new guidance to help researchers to improve the diversity of participants in their research. You can find out more on our website.