HSE to publish review of perinatal deaths annually

The HSE has announced that a review in perinatal deaths in Ireland over the past three years is to begin shortly.

This will then become an annual audit in a bid to identify “anything that can be learned so as to improve services for the future”.

The review will cover the years from 2021 to 2023, the HSE has said.

Safer Births Ireland, which has been campaigning for greater scrutiny of baby deaths, pointing to cases highlighted in the last decade that have come to light through inquests, clinical reviews and court cases.

It called for an independent review to provide insight into how babies dies, and also to identify weaknesses in areas such as foetal monitoring.

A HSE spokesperson said the “quality and safety of maternity services is of paramount importance”.

“We always want to ensure the safety of all women and babies throughout the pre and postnatal period,” the spokesperson added.

The spokesperson said it is a “confidential” review only in the sense that it will be anonymised, personal patient details will not be disclosed and the reviewers conducting the inquiry will not know identifying details of cases they are reviewing.

“This removes the possibility of bias. However, the annual reports themselves ill not be confidential and will be published.”

The HSE said Ireland “compares well” with other countries in its rate of baby death, with most women and infants at low risk of mortality or morbidity during the course of pregnancy, labour or childbirth.

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