This story was first published in digitalhealth.net
Minimising baby deaths and brain damage during labour
An inquiry has found that failure to properly monitor baby heart rates during childbirth is one reason why some newborns are dying on UK maternity wards.
The investigation, Each Baby Counts, by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, looked at 700 recent neonatal deaths and injuries.
It says three out of four babies may have had a different outcome if they had received different care.
In many of the cases, significant factors included problems with accurate assessment of foetal well-being during labour and consistent issues with staff understanding and processing of complex situations.
The report outlines how to prevent such cases in the future. The report recommends assessing all low-risk women on admission in labour to see what foetal monitoring is needed, giving staff annual training on interpreting baby heart-rate traces, having a senior member of staff maintain oversight of the activity on the delivery suite, and making sure all trusts and health boards inform parents of any local review taking place and inviting them to contribute.
Professor Zarko Alfirevic, co-principal investigator and consultant obstetrician at Liverpool Women's Hospital, said: "We urge everyone working in maternity care to ensure the report's recommendations are followed at all times."
Janet Scott, from the stillbirth and neonatal death charity Sands, added: "We urge trusts, health boards and governments across the UK to ensure the levels of support and resourcing needed to bring this about urgently."
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