Better fetal monitoring will reduce severe brain injury in babies, says negligence claims agency NHS Resolution

Urgent action is needed to improve fetal monitoring to prevent babies being born with severe brain injuries, says a report from NHS Resolution, which handles negligence claims made against the health service in England.1

The call comes in a report on NHS Resolution’s new early notification scheme, which requires hospital trusts to notify the agency of all full term babies who have had a potentially severe brain injury diagnosed in the first seven days of life.

An analysis of a sample of 96 cases described as high risk from a legal point of view found that issues with fetal monitoring were a leading contributory factor in 70%. In …