Infant Journal
for neonatal and paediatric healthcare professionals

£3 million more to reduce brain injuries at birth

The Patient Safety Minister Maria Caulfield says that £3 million will be available for the second phase of a programme to improve maternity care and reduce brain injuries at birth, bringing the total investment to over £5 million so far.

The funding will support the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) in collaboration with the Royal College of Midwives (RCM) and The Healthcare Improvement Studies Institute at the University of Cambridge (THIS Institute) to develop a national programme to roll out tools and training products, for example:

  • the development and testing of tools to monitor and identify any deterioration in a baby’s health during birth

  • training for midwives and doctors focusing on teamwork, co-operation, positive working relationships and technical skills

  • a strategy to improve national databases to help identify what enables excellent care, bringing together reports and published data on national brain injury rates

  • a childbirth safety culture toolkit to be developed and piloted, which will include a new approach to ensure the whole system learns from good practice and mistakes.

The second phase of this programme will help to improve maternity care and prevent mothers and babies from suffering the trauma of a brain injury during birth with the aim of halving the rate of brain injury during or soon after birth by 2025.


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