Excess baby deaths investigation

Review of spikes in Neonatal Mortality ordered by Scotland https://www.healthcareimprovementscotland.org/our_work/governance_and_assurance/programme_resources/neonatal_mortality_in_scotland.aspx Healthcare Improvement Scotland, asked by Scottish Government Review of significant increase in neonatal mortality 2021 to 2022 Scottish Government orders review as neonatal deaths higher than expected https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-63097142 Neonatal death rates, two spikes over six-months September 2021, at least 21 babies under 4 weeks died March 2022, at least 18 babies under 4 weeks died Average mortality rate among newborns Two per 1,000 births. In September 2021, 4.9 per 1,000 births March 2020, 4.6 per 1,000 births For all of 2021, 3.9 infant deaths for every thousand live births For all of 2020, 3.1 (A preliminary investigation found the September spike was not linked to Covid) This form of monitoring introduced, July 2017 Dr Sarah Stock, maternal and foetal medicine, University of Edinburgh https://www.scotsman.com/health/scottish-government-orders-review-as-neonatal-deaths-higher-than-expected-3863538 I think the numbers are really troubling and I don't think we know the reasons why yet. What we do know it's not neonatal Covid – the rates of Covid-19 infection in babies are very low and deaths from Covid are thankfully very, very small, so this isn't Covid affecting babies Covid Scotland: Vaccines ruled out in neonatal deaths spike https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/23028843.covid-scotland-vaccines-ruled-cause-neonatal-deaths-spike/?ref=rss PUBLIC health experts ruled out any link between spikes in neonatal deaths and the Covid vaccine without checking whether any of the infants' mothers had received the jag during pregnancy. Experts stressed, no “plausible” link to justify investigating maternal vaccination status. Public Health Scotland (PHS) said its consultants had given “careful consideration” to the “potential benefits and harms” of carrying out such as analysis as part of its probe into the tragic deaths of 39 infants, but concluded against doing so PHS added A risk that “identifying the vaccination status of the mothers, even at aggregate level, would result in harm to those individuals and others close to them, through actual or perceived judgement of the effects of their personal vaccination decision” Furthermore “the outcomes of such analysis, whilst being uninformative for public health decision making, had the potential to be used to harm vaccine confidence at this critical time” PHS response, “We do not have any plans to examine maternal vaccination status, as there is no public health reason to do so”. NHS logging baby deaths as stillbirths ‘to avoid scrutiny’ https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/10/16/nhs-logging-baby-deaths-stillbirths-avoid-scrutiny/ Families call into question trusts’ transparency after hospital accounts clash with their experience NHS hospitals have claimed that babies born alive were stillborn prompting accusations they were trying to avoid scrutiny. Six children who died before they left hospital were wrongly described as stillborn. Several of the children lived for minutes and one lived for five days. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-powers-to-investigate-stillbirths At present, coroners can only hold inquests for babies who have shown signs of life after being born. The babies identified by The Telegraph should have been recorded as neonatal deaths, but staff claimed they were stillbirths ‘Our baby was alive for five days but was recorded as a stillbirth’ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices