Hundreds of babies dying every 12 months resulting from NHS failings – report

The Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC) has said that a whole bunch of babies are dying every 12 months in England resulting from failures in NHS maternity care.

The figures come from a study jointly conducted by two charities, Tommy’s and Sands. Both charities are dedicated to helping families take care of the lack of a baby, either while pregnant or after birth.

According to Sands, around 4,500 babies die every 12 months within the UK, representing a median of 13 families daily experiencing the pain of baby loss. Around 15 per cent of pregnancies still end in miscarriages.

Many of the deaths are apparently avoidable and the report claims that since 2018, 2,500 babies died resulting from problems in NHS maternity care. In some cases parents decided to abort their child after being wrongly told that their baby had life-limiting genetic disorders.

An investigation found “a series of deficiencies in care, knowledge and process” led to the wrong diagnosis being given.

According to the Office for National Statistics, stillbirths accounted for slightly below 0.4% of births in 2023, down from 0.5% in 2010, but still above the federal government’s goal of 0.26%. Neonatal deaths occurred in 0.14% of cases in 2023, again higher than the 0.2% figure in 2010 but worse than the official government goal of 0.1%.

The report states that progress on meeting these targets has “stagnated” and there’s little probability of the NHS meeting these targets.

Dr Robert Wilson, who heads Sands and Tommy’s joint policy unit, said: “Hundreds of fewer babies a 12 months would have died since 2018 if the federal government had met its ambition to halve the rates of stillbirths and neonatal deaths in England by 2025.”

He added, “The response from government and policymakers to the continued crisis in maternity and neonatal care and the dimensions of pregnancy and baby loss within the UK is just not ok. Too many individuals proceed to suffer the heartbreak of losing a baby.”

Clea Harmer, the CEO of Sands, said: “These usually are not simply numbers, these are babies who’re loved and won’t ever be forgotten by their parents and families.”