No reduction in stillbirths, deaths, and injuries in babies for three years, finds review

The rate of stillbirths, brain injury, and avoidable deaths in babies in the UK has not changed in three years, findings from the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) show.

The president of the college, Edward Morris, has urged maternity units across the UK to learn from the latest report and act on its recommendations. “We owe it to each and every person affected to find out why these deaths and harms occur in order to prevent future cases where possible,” he said.

The Each Baby Counts programme was launched by the RCOG in 2014 to try to reduce the number of babies who die or are left severely disabled as a result of incidents that happen during term labour.

This third annual Each Baby Counts survey1 looked at local investigations of …