MBRRACE reports on 2014 baby deaths

MAMA Academy attended the launch of the second MBRRACE-UK Perinatal Mortality report. The report shows that, in 2014 as in 2013, 15 babies died every day before, during or within 4 weeks of birth.

The poorest women and women with a Black or Asian ethnic background continue to have an increased risk that their baby will die. There also continues to be stark variation in rates across the country, from 4.9 to 7.1 deaths per 1,000 births.

Today’s report calls for healthcare and policy leads in each UK country to set national aspirational targets for stillbirth and neonatal death rates against which their maternity services can be measured. Recommendations to carry out local reviews for all stillbirths and neonatal deaths using a standardised process, will ensure lessons are learned for the future.

During the launch event, our first research poster was presented to showcase the work of our Wellbeing Wallets and the impact they are having on improving pregnancy outcomes.

Heidi Eldridge, Chief Executive Officer at MAMA Academy said:

“It’s clear from today’s report that so much more needs to be done to start reducing baby deaths significantly. It’s also unacceptable that the risk of your baby dying can depend on where abouts you live in the UK.

MAMA Academy wants the government to fund more midwives, and for every midwife to know how many stillbirths their unit has had, and why those babies died. We are encouraging all trusts to carry out independent investigations for all baby deaths and partner with other trusts so that lessons can be learned for future pregnancies.

Every Trust needs to improve on their stillbirth rate no matter how well they are doing because every baby matters”.

Read more about the work of MBRRACE-UK.

Current initiatives include:

• The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists’ Each Baby Counts
• NHS England’s Saving Babies’ Lives Care Bundle
• NHS Wales’ 1000 Lives Improvement, National Stillbirth Working Group
• Scotland’s Maternity and Children’s Quality Improvement Collaborative
• The Northern Ireland Maternal and Infant Loss (NIMI) steering group