Guidance bid to cut stillbirth numbers

ADVICE for parents, doctors and midwives to help prevent stillbirths has been published for the first time.

The Saving Babies’ Lives Care Bundle includes information about reducing smoking dur ing pregnancy, monitoring foetal growth and movement, and monitoring the baby during labour.

One in every 200 babies is stillborn in the UK.

Simon Stevens, chief executive of NHS England, said: “NHS maternity care is now the safest it’s ever been, and most mums say they’re cared for brilliantly.

“But that makes it all the more tragic and heart rending when for a small number of families something goes terribly wrong.

“We could however cut the chances of this happening if all pregnant mums were encouraged to quit smoking, if proper monitoring takes place during pregnancy, and if maternity providers listen carefully when pregnant women report worries about their baby’s movements.”

An information and advice leaflet on reduced foetal movement will be given to all expectant mothers by week 24 of their pregnancy.

The initiative aims to halve the rate of stillbirths by 2030 and is the first time guidance has been issued specifically for reducing baby deaths during pregnancy.

The guidance was developed by NHS England with organisations including the Royal College of Midwives, Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, British Maternal and Foetal Medicine Society and Sands, the stillbirth charity.