Nearly 100 baby deaths potentially avoidable

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Nearly 100 newborn babies that died in 2009 could potentially have been saved, a government report says.

A Health Quality & Safety Commission report on maternal and perinatal deaths - babies who die after 20 weeks in the womb and up to 28 days after birth - found that 720 babies died during 2009.

Of those babies that died, 98 (14 per cent) might have been saved with earlier or better help.

This is the fourth year the Perinatal and Maternal Mortality Review Committee has reported on newborn deaths, but the first time it has flagged some deaths as potentially avoidable.

To coincide with the report, the Government has today launched a national quality and safety programme for maternity services.

The programme includes beginning to establish a national database for all pregnancies and births - something the committee has been calling for, for several years.

Maternity referral guidelines have also been revised to set out how pregnancy and birth emergencies should be handled.

A standard set of electronic information for each pregnant woman will also be created, that all health workers caring for them can access.

As well as the babies who died, today's report also investigated the deaths of 14 new mothers in 2009, finding five of them could potentially have been saved.

Committee chair Professor Cindy Farquhar said she hoped the report would help prevent future deaths.

"The death of a baby or mother is a tragedy and we need to learn from these deaths to make improvements that will, ultimately, save lives."

Neonatal and stillborn death rates between 2006 and 2009 were similar to rates in Australia and the United Kingdom.

However, they were significantly higher among babies whose mothers were young, poor, Maori or Pasifika.

"We can ... see that some groups of women and babies are particularly at risk - for example, teenage mothers - and more needs to be done to meet their specific needs during pregnancy and the perios immediately afterwards."

Health Minister Tony Ryall also singled out New Zealand's high rate of maternal deaths compared to the UK.

"I remain concerned about the high rate of maternal mortality in 2009, especially the high rates of maternal suicide and flu-related deaths."

Despite the Government making the flu vaccine free for pregnant women in 2009 during the influenza A H1N1 pandemic, four women died of the virus.

The committee made recommendations to the Government, including:

* establishing a national working group to work out the best way of providing maternity services to young mothers
* improving recognition of women at increased risk of having their baby die or dying themselves
* assessing the mental health of pregnant women when they first see a midwife or doctor
* regular training in managing obstetric emergencies for all health workers involved in caring for pregnant women

- © Fairfax NZ News