A new ambition to halve stillbirths, neonatal and maternal deaths will be unveiled by Health Minister Ben Gummer today.
The number of brain injuries occurring during or soon after birth will also be targeted as part of the government's commitment to make England one of the safest places to have a baby.
The Government has pledged to work with top consultants, midwives and other experts, both across the country and internationally, to ensure we apply the very best practice consistently across the NHS.
Maternity services will be asked to set out initiatives that can be adopted across the country as part of a national approach; these include appointing maternity safety champions to report to the board and ensuring all staff have the right training to identify the symptoms of perinatal mental health.
To kick-start this ambition, trusts will receive a share of over £4million of government investment to buy state-of-the-art digital equipment and roll out training to support hardworking staff. This includes a £2.24 million fund to buy cutting edge monitoring or training equipment to improve safety, such as cardiotocography (CTG) equipment to monitor baby’s heartbeats - pivotal in detecting problems early.
Over time, this initiative is expected to save millions of pounds in the costs of caring for injured children and providing compensation - money that can be re-invested in improved front-line services.
At present, England’s outcomes in terms of stillbirths lag behind much of the developed world – this Government is determined to improve outcomes so that far fewer families suffer. A 2011 Lancet series on stillbirths ranked the UK 33 out of 35 high-income countries for stillbirth rates.
The Government will align next steps with the recommendations of the Independent Review of Maternity Services, which is already looking at ways to improve quality and safety.
“Although the stillbirth rate has decreased in recent years, it is still far too high and remains one of the worst in the developed world. Today’s ambition underlines our firm support for the NHS to deliver the very best and safest care across the country – through cutting-edge technology, specialist training and working closely with Royal Colleges to reduce stillbirths, neonatal deaths, maternal deaths and brain injuries," Minister for Care Quality Ben Gummer said.
“With greater transparency and a record number of midwives, we will support local maternity services to make sure every baby and mother receives consistently high quality care, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Through this exciting campaign, we will reduce the number of families going through the heartache of stillbirth, brain injury or a mother's death."
The ambition is to reduce the number of stillbirths, neonatal deaths, maternal deaths and brain injuries that occur during or soon after birth to 20% by 2020 and 50% by 2030.
