New guidance from the British Association of Perinatal Medicine (BAPM)
Published on Wednesday, 18 February 2026
Researchers from MBRRACE-UK and PMRT have contributed to two new peices of guidance recently published by the British Association of Perinatal Medicine (BAPM).
Perinatal Management of Extreme Preterm Birth Before 27 Weeks of Gestation
An updated version of this Framework for Practice was published on 9 February 2026.
This Framework was created to assist with decision-making relating to perinatal care and preterm birth at 26 weeks and 6 days gestation or less prior to or at the time of birth. The update retains the core elements of the previous 2019 version with clearer language, support and guidance for extremely high-risk babies.
Among the updates, it recommends that such babies should be provided with comfort care and emphasises the importance of joint maternity and neonatal counselling with families.It also includes updated figures on survival and neurodevelopmental outcomes and the proportion of babies liveborn
Neonatal Mortality Governance Framework
This Governance Framework was published on 16 February 2026.
This Framework emphasises the importance of high-quality end-of-life care and transparent child death review processes in providing understanding, closure and learning for families and staff. It complements existing guidance on neonatal mortality by providing more detailed operational guidance for areas where clinical interpretation is challenging. It is aimed primarily at periantal healthcare professionals but coroners, procurator fiscals and medical examiners may also find it helpful.