‘Must do everything possible to prevent perinatal deaths says RCM on MBRRACE report’
By ‘Must do everything possible to prevent perinatal deaths says RCM on MBRRACE report’ on 04 October 2019 Midwifery Safe high quality care Evidence-Based Practice MBRRACE Stillbirth Neonatal Death RCOG - Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists Safety
The latest MBRRACE-UK Perinatal Mortality Surveillance Report for UK Perinatal Deaths for Births has been published this week (Thursday 10th of September).
This is the fifth MBRRACE-UK Perinatal Mortality Surveillance Report ad provides information on extended perinatal deaths in the UK from January to December 2017.
Responding to the report Zeenath Uddin, Head of Quality and Safety from the Royal College of Midwives (RCM) said;
“The RCM welcomes the findings of the report and recognises the overall reduction in stillbirths and neonatal deaths.
“It is, however, alarming that the mortality rates remain much higher for Black or Black British and Asian or Asian British babies. While stillbirth rates for these groups have reduced over this period, equally neonatal mortality rates have sadly increased over the same period. It is clear that we still face the challenge of further reducing the number of perinatal deaths, as well as addressing the existing variation of perinatal mortality rates across the UK.
“While there has been a slow, but steady fall in the overall number of stillbirths and neonatal deaths over the years, there is much more work to be done here.
“The RCM remains deeply committed to improving the quality of maternity care and is working collaboratively with the Royal College of Obstetricians and other partners in ensuring that every mother receives the best quality care available.
“This report clearly shows that improvements to the quality of investigations are needed. It is only through thorough investigation and implementation of recommendations that lessons can be learned from these tragic events. We will continue to work closely with MBRRACE-UK and other colleagues to make the UK one of the safest places to be born.
MBRRACE-UK Perinatal Mortality Surveillance Report for Births in 2017 was published on October 10th and can be viewed here: https://www.npeu.ox.ac.uk/mbrrace-uk/reports
ENDS
Notes to Editors
To contact the RCM’s Media Relations team call 020 7312 3456 or email [email protected]
About the RCM
The RCM is the only trade union and professional association dedicated to serving midwifery and the whole midwifery team. It provides workplace advice and support, professional and clinical guidance and information, and learning opportunities with a broad range of events, conferences and online resources. For more information visit the RCM website at