Fifteen babies die every day in the UK from stillbirth or within four weeks of being born
- 18.05.2016
- HannahBottomley
- Clinical-negligence, Opinion, Clinical-negligence, Opinion
A report from Mothers and Babies: Reducing Risk through Audits and Confidential Enquiries Across the UK (MBRRACE-UK), commented on in yesterday’s article from The Guardian, leads with a rather astonishing figure that 15 babies are dying every day in the UK from stillbirth, during labour or within the first four weeks of life.
This shocking figure however doesn’t present the true extent of the picture as 15 babies dying every day leads to 15 families, mothers, fathers, grandparents and sometimes siblings, facing a devastating loss.
The report from MBRRACE-UK also included statistics regarding the variation in death rates across the country and found that it ranged from from 4.1 to 7.1 per 1,000 births. The report also found within the variation that “women from the poorest backgrounds and black and Asian mothers run a higher risk than others that their baby will die in the womb or soon after birth.”
For me it is the huge variation which I find so distressing. I understand that in almost half of all cases (46%) there is no known cause for the death however babies who are born premature or suffer from complications or congenital defects account for the other half of deaths and it is these babies where I believe the variation may be highest.
Sick and premature babies need access to appropriate care and specialist equipment which is provided in dedicated neonatal units as Caroline Davey, chief executive of Bliss, the premature and sick baby charity was quoted as saying:
Over 90,000 babies born in the UK each year depend on neonatal care to survive and thrive – and that care depends on hospitals having the right numbers of nurses and doctors in place to meet quality standards.
The variation in access to appropriate equipment and sufficient numbers of staff is something I have commented on previously and is something which has to be improved if we are going to see a reduction in the number of infant deaths.
I have worked with a number of families over the years who have lost much loved and wished for babies as stillbirths during labour or within the immediate few weeks following birth and it is always tragic to witness that loss and grief. I therefore welcome this report as I hope that it will lead to the improvements which are vitally needed and other families don’t go through the terrible loss my clients have had to go through.