NMPA, PMRT, MBRRACE-UK and NCHDA publish new reports

Over the last month, new reports from the National Maternity and Perinatal Audit (NMPA), Perinatal Mortality Review Tool (PMRT), MBRRACE-UK and the National Congenital Heart Disease Audit (NCHDA) have been published.

National Maternity and Perinatal Audit Clinical Report 2021

The NMPA presents measures of maternity and neonatal care based on 304,518 births in English, Welsh and Scottish NHS services. Key clinical findings include: the proportion of newborns born small for gestational age at term has declined in Scotland and Wales year-on-year; the proportion of babies born in Scotland and Wales with a 5-minute Apgar score of <7 has increased; the proportion of women in Scotland and Wales who experience induction of labour at term has increased; there is variation between and within the three countries in the availability, quality and completeness of the data items used to generate the maternal and neonatal measures.

Perinatal Mortality Review Tool – Third Annual Report

The PMRT found there had been modest improvements in the way hospital reviews were undertaken across the UK over the 12-month period spanning the pandemic. However, it also found that the emergence of COVID-19 compounded an already unequal picture in maternity. Overall, 3,981 reviews were carried out across England, Scotland, Wales and North Ireland, 97% of which identified at least one issue with care (with an average of four issues per death reviewed, increasing to five issues per death where the baby was born at term).

MBRRACE-UK Perinatal Mortality Surveillance Report 2019

The MBRRACE-UK report found there were 716,825 births, of which there were 2,399 stillbirths, 1,158 neonatal deaths, 3,168 perinatal deaths and 3,557 extended perinatal deaths. Key findings include: extended perinatal mortality has reduced by 18% over six years; stillbirth rates have reduced by just over 20%; neonatal mortality has reduced by 12%.

National Congenital Heart Disease Audit, 2021 summary report

The NCHDA reports that there were 12,393 congenital heart procedures in 2019/20, with 8,286 (67%) in children under 16 years of age. Key findings include: low complication rates after paediatric cardiac surgical procedures were recorded; while prenatal diagnosis for all infants requiring a procedure in the first year of life remains at 51%, the audit found variation between centres nationally. As such, a recommendation was made to address this with reviews of staffing, equipment and training.