MP calls for pregnancy screening

Mr Cameron hopes to cut baby deaths with the new legislation

An MP has tabled an early day motion in the House of Commons aimed at preventing dangerous infections in pregnant women.

David Cameron was alerted to the problem of Group B Streptococcal infection by a couple from West Oxfordshire who lost their baby.

The bacteria is a leading cause of death of babies in the developed world and is thought to have killed 500 in Britain in the past five years.

Some 200 more have suffered serious injuries such as brain damage as a result.

Mr Cameron, Conservative member for Witney in Oxfordshire, wants British mothers to get a screening programme for the bacteria like those in the US and some other EU countries.

In the US, infection rates dropped by two-thirds as screening programmes were introduced in the last 10 years.