United Kingdom

Safer Childbirth

In October 2007 Safer Childbirth: Minimum Standards for the Organisation and Delivery of Care in Labour was published by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG). The report focuses on improving the safety and quality of maternity by ‘clearly setting out informed and considered views about the essential minimum staffing standards required to support women in labour and provide safe care for them and their babies’. While in general the data and information used originates from England, the report states that it; ‘should be seen as being applicable to the whole of the UK because it deals with standards of care which should apply wherever a woman gives birth.’

You can download the NCT’s document summary on Safer Childbirth below.

Standards for Maternity Care

Standards for Maternity Care Report of a Working Group (PDF) was published in 2008 by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) with the Royal College of Midwifes (RCM), the Royal College of Anaesthetists (RCA) and the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH). It is applicable across the UK and contains 30 individual standards for care for the maternity care pathway from ‘preconception’ to the ‘transition into parenthood’ in one document, developed from 50 original source documents The standards for intrapartum care have been taken directly from Safer Childbirth, published in 2007. Each standard is supported by audit indicators which are also published in a separate slimmer document.

You can download the NCT’s document summary on Standards for Maternity Care below.

Perinatal Mortality 2007

The Confidential Enquiry into Maternal and Child Health (CEMACH) launched its latest report on 23 June 2009 on stillbirths and deaths of babies in the weeks immediately following birth in 2007.

Perinatal Mortality 2007 (PDF)– United Kingdom identifies the major social risk factors associated with perinatal mortality (stillbirths and deaths in the first 7 days) and neonatal mortality (deaths of live born babies in the first 28 days). These are social deprivation, ethnicity, extremes of maternal age and obesity. The report reveals that since 2000 there have been reductions in the UK’s overall stillbirth, neonatal and perinatal mortality rates. Reductions in these rates for multiple pregnancies (twins, triplets and higher order multiples) have been significantly greater than for singleton births.

In the UK in 2007 there were 6,571 babies who were stillborn or died within the first 28 days after birth. These deaths included 4,037 stillbirths (of which 34% occurred in full term pregnancies), 6,016 perinatal deaths and 2,534 neonatal deaths.

You can download the NCT’s document summary on Perinatal Mortality 2007 below.

Saving Mothers' Lives 2003-2005

The Confidential Enquiry into Maternal and Child Health (CEMACH) launched its latest Report of the Confidential Enquiries into Maternal Deaths in the United Kingdom in December 2007, Saving Mothers’ Lives: Reviewing maternal deaths to make motherhood safer 2003-2005.
The enquiry found a slight, non-statistically significant, increase in the maternal mortality rate since the last report of 2000-2002. This may be attributable to demographic and public health factors as there has been no increase in substandard care. While the maternal death rate due to suicide, the leading cause of death in the previous report has decreased, the inquiry shows that obesity is now a major and growing maternal death risk factor. The report also reveals that vast inequalities persist in the pregnancy outcomes between the most advantaged and most vulnerable and excluded mothers and babies in society.

You can download the NCT’s document summary on Saving Mothers' Lives below.