Out of hours risk to new babies

Friday July 16th, 2010

Babies born outside normal working hours face an increased risk of death, according to research in Scotland published today.

The findings raise concerns that mothers get different quality of care depending on the time of day they give birth.

Researchers said the risk was "small but significant" - accounting for one or two extra deaths for every 10,000 births caused by lack of oxygen at birth.

The findings come from an analysis of more than one million births over a 20 year period. Some 529 babies died at birth, according to the report published on-line by the British Medical Journal.

Researcher Professor Gordon Smith, of Cambridge University, calls for improvements to the level of clinical care available to women out of normal working hours.

He says: "This association can be explained by many different variables, such as the total number or the profile of staff at different times of the day, in particular the immediate availability of senior clinicians. It could also be related to access to clinical facilities, such as obstetric operating theatres."

Writing in the same journal, Professor David Field, a neonatal specialist at Leicester University, says the results probably apply across Britain. But, he warns, the research does not show where the problem lies and it could be caused by staff numbers or the level of experience of staff on duty out of hours.

British Medical Journal on-line July 16 2010

Tags: Childbirth and Pregnancy | Nursing & Midwifery | UK News | Women’s Health & Gynaecology

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