Reducing death and injury in childbirth - lessons from the Each Baby Counts inquiry
A report published by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) examining the deaths and injuries of babies in the UK shows that 75% of babies studied could have had a more positive outcome if they had received better medical care.
The report aims to reduce the instance of stillbirth, early neonatal death or severe brain injury in babies by 50% by 2020. The RCOG included recommendations for improvements to medical care during labour, designed to help prevent avoidable injury or death.
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Contributing factors to neonatal deaths and injuries
The report identified numerous contributing factors to neonatal deaths, injuries and other serious incidents during labour. They include:
- Failure by medical staff to recognise signs that a baby is in danger
- Failure to properly monitor a baby’s heart rate during labour
- Overworked staff
The report recommends new protocols be put in place in relation to foetal monitoring, communication between staff when warnings signs are identified and senior oversight of all activity on the delivery suite.
The RCOG’s recommendations are designed to create a system where mistakes are spotted and dealt with – and prevent single mistakes leading to catastrophic, life-changing outcomes for parents and babies.
Improving investigations into neonatal deaths and injuries
The report also criticised the way in which serious incidents are investigated. It found that 25% were of such poor quality that conclusions could not be drawn. Perhaps more worryingly, it also found that 30% of investigations failed to involve parents.
Trusts and health boards are being advised to improve these figures as a matter of urgency.
Advice for parents after a difficult or traumatic birth
Childbirth is supposed to be a joyful and exciting event, but unfortunately this is not always the case. If you have suffered a difficult or traumatic birth resulting in injury to either you or your baby, our team of experienced and specialist birth injury solicitors can help you find a way forward. We have expert solicitors who can help you to take the next steps.
Over the years, we have secured £millions for families whose children have suffered injuries such as cerebral palsy or Erbs palsy as a result of poor care during labour delivery and/or the neonatal period. We are currently helping a number of families to investigate and understand the circumstances of their child’s birth; to help them access the best possible treatment and rehabilitation; and, whatever the nature or extent of the disability, to secure maximum compensation so that they can positively plan for their future.
In 2016, Tees settled three maternal birth injury cases and secured compensation of £400,000 for parents and their children. Our experts are completely committed to helping parents get the answers and financial support they need following complications during birth or labour.
Tees is here to help
We have many specialist lawyers who are based in:
Cambridgeshire: Cambridge
Essex: Brentwood, Chelmsford, and Saffron Walden
Hertfordshire: Bishop's Stortford and Royston
But we can help you wherever you are in England and Wales.
Chat to the Author, Janine Collier
Executive Partner, Medical Negligence, Cambridge office
Meet Janine
- Areas of expertise
- Accreditations
- Testimonials
Legal 500 UK 2023
'Janine Collier has an amazing reputation and quite rightly, she very quickly spotted something that wasn’t the main focus of the case but is able to zoom out and look at everything that’s going on and spot things others wouldn’t spot. You can tell she really cares and is a very dedicated person who just wants to help. The team are all caring and efficient'
A
Cambridge
'A heartfelt thank you for all you have done in preparation for and during the settlement meeting, as well as for your unfailing support along the way, in and out of hours. It is undoubtedly due to your high professionalism if the outcome today has exceeded all expectations; it will be a huge help for us going forward and we will be forever grateful'
Chambers & Partners 2022
Cambridge
'Janine Collier is renowned for her handling of delay in diagnosis, obstetric injury and surgical negligence claims. She is at the top of her game and knows clinical negligence inside and out'
Susan Hickman
Cambridge
'We consider ourselves fortunate to have been recommended to Tees by the solicitor we initially approached. We did not realise it until the case was well established that the level of professional care we were receiving was exceptional and that the experience of the individuals and the contacts they have to assist in a very complex case was the best available. We are grateful that we received a satisfactory settlement as a result of their efforts under difficult circumstances and dealing with defendants that were obstructive and disorganised. By far the greatest benefit for us however is the fact that the victim, with assistance from highly skilled experts that we would not have known about otherwise, learned to walk short distances when all other medical opinion did not consider this possible. This was their greatest achievement which is well beyond the service we expected'
Legal 500 UK 2021
"Janine Collier, head of department, is a perspicacious and very able lawyer, certainly one of the best in the region and beyond, who believes in her team and in the work she does. A genuinely nice person who sees it as her clients’ right and her duty to achieve the best possible outcome for them. Janine delivers this time after time. She is an extremely intelligent and intuitive lawyer who has a genuine understanding of the difficulties and fears clients experience when living with an avoidable injury."
Legal 500 UK 2021
"Janine Collier is a really good solicitor – she really understands the medicine in clin neg cases and works well with the team, the clients and the experts to get excellent results in difficult cases."
Legal 500 UK 2021
"Janine Collier is exceptionally good at analysis, organisation and strategy."
Legal 500 UK 2021
"Janine Collier is a really good solicitor, she really understands the medicine in clinical negligence cases and works well with the team, the clients and the experts to get excellent results in difficult cases."
Legal 500 2021
"Janine Collier shows dedication to ensuring access to the highest level of experts on medical negligence cases. There is excellent consistent communication with experts throughout a lengthy case, creating a supportive working atmosphere and ensuring long-term engagement of expert. She has a very intelligent and insightful approach to learning from experts, enabling sharing of detailed specialist information and findings with confidence, and she is excellent in multi-professional meetings with solicitors and barristers, enhancing communication in exceptionally complex cases; very high level of sensitivity demonstrated towards the needs of client throughout the case, consistently focusing on the multifactorial needs of the client, over and above the monetary compensation."
Legal 500 UK 2021
"Janine Collier has been amazing to work with. She is always quick to respond to queries, always takes time to make sure we fully understand the process and supports us to make decisions, i.e. switching from Legal Aid to no-win no-fee, with well reasoned and researched information to support us."
Legal 500 UK 2021
‘It has always been a rewarding experience working with Janine Collier and I would commend her very highly to lead on medical negligence cases.‘
The Fisher family
Janine works with empathy, understanding and compassion. She handled our mother's inquest with skill and sensitivity and guided us expertly. She kept us informed continually via email and multiple meetings and phone calls. Janine completely took the sting and the stress out of our case.