Funding of audit of maternal and perinatal deaths has been suspended, UK agency reports

The UK National Patient Safety Agency has told the consortium that was due to take over the national confidential inquiries into maternal and perinatal deaths on Friday 1 April that procurement arrangements have been stopped “with immediate effect” as part of a “review.”

The decision effectively halts the central review of data on these deaths in the United Kingdom, which has been conducted for the past 50 years and has resulted in important improvements in the care of women giving birth and their newborn babies.

The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, together with the Royal College of Midwives and other professional organisations working in the field, have “urgently” contacted the chief medical officer for England to raise their concerns about the decision and to seek reassurance that central monitoring of maternal …