MBRRACE-UK: Mothers and Babies: Reducing Risk through Audits and Confidential Enquiries across the UK

 MBRRACE-UK release “Saving Lives, Improving Mothers’ Care”

The fifth annual MBRRACE-UK report of “Saving Lives, Improving Mothers’ Care” is published today (1st November 2018). The number of women dying as a consequence of complications during or after pregnancy remains low in the UK - fewer than 10 of every 100,000 pregnant women die in pregnancy or around childbirth. However, there are striking inequalities: black women are five times and Asian women two times more likely to die as a result of complications in pregnancy than white women and urgent research and action to understand these disparities is needed.

Heart disease remains the leading cause of women dying during pregnancy or up to six weeks after giving birth, followed by blood clots. Maternal suicide is the fifth most common cause of women’s deaths during pregnancy and its immediate aftermath, but is the leading cause of death over the first year after pregnancy. Although there is greater awareness of the importance of mental health during pregnancy and in the first year after birth, there is still a long way to go in recognising symptoms, supporting women with mental health problems and providing access to specialist perinatal mental health care.

The report highlights the risk of blood clots, particularly among women who are overweight or obese, and emphasises the importance of awareness of symptoms, such as leg or buttock pain and breathlessness even in early pregnancy.

Women who are aged 40 or over have three times the risk of dying during or after pregnancy compared to women in their early 20s and although cancer in pregnancy is uncommon, women and their doctors and midwives need to be aware that it can happen.

The report emphasises the importance of considering the benefits of starting or continuing medication to treat physical and mental health conditions during pregnancy, as well as the risks. Many medicines are safe in pregnancy, and so ensuring a woman is properly treated while pregnant may be the best way to care for both her and her baby.

To read more you can download the full report, lay summary and the infograpic here: https://www.npeu.ox.ac.uk/mbrrace-uk/reports

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MBRRACE-UK release “Perinatal Mortality Surveillance for Births in 2016

The Perinatal Mortality Surveillance Report for Births in 2016 is published today (15^th June 2018). Whilst the overall perinatal mortality rate is essentially unchanged since last year, compared with 2013, when MBRRACE-UK started reporting, the rate has decreased overall. Importantly the stillbirth rate for twins has nearly halved since 2014 and although the decrease in neonatal deaths in twins is smaller at 30% both represent a statistically significant change which indicates these reductions are unlikely to be due to chance.

Variations in rates between Trusts and Health Boards remain, although the variation in the stillbirth rate between Trusts and Health Boards delivering similar levels of care is now less marked than in the past. Nevertheless, there is still room for improvement as our average rate of stillbirths and neonatal deaths is still higher than in many other similar European countries. This fact, together with the findings from recent MBRRACE-UK confidential enquiries, suggest that with further improvements to the organisation and systems of care provided to mothers and their babies, a continuing reduction mortality rates is indeed possible.

To read more you can download the full report, executive summary and the infograhpic on the reports page.

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