The Each Baby Counts inquiry, led by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG), has published findings regarding neonatal deaths and injuries, having investigated over 700 recent instances.
The inquiry report also outlines how health services can prevent such deaths and injuries from happening in the future, with the report suggesting that three out of every four cases may have had a different outcome under the right care.
The report investigated 1,136 neonatal deaths and brain injuries, which could be broken down as follows:
Other significant factors in these cases leading to deaths and injuries included problems with accurate assessments of foetal wellbeing during labour and consistent issues with staff understanding and processing complex situations.
The inquiry report made the following recommendations:
Rebecca Thomas, Director of Clinical Negligence at Duncan Lewis Solicitors states:
“The RCOG initiative ‘Each Baby Counts’ hopes to halve the number of babies who die during or shortly after delivery or who are born with a serious brain injury because of an incident during labour. This initiative is to be applauded and the Report suggests that the outcome may be different for many stillborn and brain injured babies if medical staff receives appropriate training and education.”
The government launched the Maternity Safety Action Plan last year in 2016 to alter its approach to maternity safety, which includes £8m for training. Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has stated: "While maternal and neonatal deaths are falling, together we need to do even more to make sure fewer families suffer the heartache of losing a baby - and this vital work will help."
Duncan Lewis Clinical Negligence Solicitors
The Duncan Lewis Clinical Negligence team has significant experience acting in a vast array of claims including wrongful death claims, birth injury claims, accident and emergency failures, GP negligence claims, misdiagnosed fractures and other medical conditions. They also act for children and adults who have suffered profound and permanent brain, spinal or neurological injuries and associated disabilities as a consequence of failings in medical care in both NHS and private hospitals.
If you believe your doctor, nurse, or other medical professional has made a mistake and wish to claim compensation or have any questions about treatment you have received, please do not hesitate to contact our team of specialist clinical negligence solicitors on 0333 772 0409.