WOMAN too poor to afford a pregnancy test have told of the "stress and anxiety" of having to rely on a GP to confirm it.

Campaigners have called for pregnancy to be “poverty proofed” warning that women battling financial hardship are more likely to miss out out on antenatal care.

The Glasgow study found pregnant women on low incomes fear being judged at ante-natal classes and are less likely to attend.

Researchers from Glasgow Caledonian University and the Poverty Alliance interviewed women from low income groups, in the north and south of Glasgow, who had given birth in the 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s.

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Women told of the stress and anxiety of having to rely on their GP to confirm their pregnancy.

Dr Janet Greenlees, of SPIRU at Glasgow Caledonian University, said: “If you look at statistics across the western world, it is the women in the poorest communities who are least likely to attend antenatal care on a regular basis.

“In short, the women felt marginalised as new mothers living in poverty, with assumptions made about their knowledge of maternity and available services, as well as their circumstances.”

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The research was carried out by the Centre for the Social History of Health and Healthcare (CSHHH), the Scottish Poverty and Inequality Research Unit (SPIRU), which are both based at Glasgow Caledonian University, and the Poverty Alliance.

Examples were given of women having to work late-on in their pregnancies for financial reasons and employers requesting to see appointment cards before granting time off for antenatal checks.

Low income had a critical role to play in terms of how the women coped with pregnancy and led to increased stress due to worry about additional costs, particularly for those in insecure or part-time employment.

Fiona McHardy, research and information manager at the Poverty Alliance, said: “Women’s care in pregnancy across all stages should be poverty proofed to remove the hidden costs and barriers that many women face."