Published 23 February 2009, doi:10.1136/bmj.b531
Cite this as: BMJ 2009;338:b531

Analysis

Responding to and learning from childhood deaths

Peter Sidebotham, senior lecturer in child health1, Gale Pearson, consultant paediatric intensivist2

1 University of Warwick, Health Sciences Research Institute, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL, 2 Birmingham Children’s Hospital, Birmingham B4 6NH

Correspondence to: P Sidebotham p.sidebotham@warwick.ac.uk

New procedures for reviewing child deaths should improve support for families and enable action to reduce mortality. Peter Sidebotham and Gale Pearson explain how they work

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Although child mortality has fallen significantly over the past century,1 there is still scope for improvement. In 2005, over 3200 infants (5 per 1000 live births) and 1200 children under the age of 15 (14 per 100 000 population) died in England and Wales,2 with large discrepancies in mortality between different areas and between different socioeconomic and cultural groups. Many of these deaths are preventable—whether they are from external causes or from natural conditions that are not normally fatal. Several studies have concluded that as many as 29% of child deaths may be preventable or contributed to by potentially avoidable factors.1 3 4 It is important, therefore, to examine the causes of child death and learn from them.

The highest risk of death is in infancy, particularly in the first month of life. Risk tails off to low levels in middle childhood before rising again in adolescence. The causes of death also . . . [Full text of this article]


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