Reducing stillbirths a 'key priority' for Bradford trust

The report, published by law firm Tees, says the trust also recorded a high number of neonatal deaths between 2019 and 2022 but lacked data on the number of those deaths it had referred to a coroner for further investigation.

The trust said stillbirth numbers have reduced and that it would expect neonatal deaths to be higher due to the number of sick babies it looks after as a result of being a regional Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, but numbers have fallen over the last four years. 

A spokesperson said the neonatal service has met with the local coroner to “agree thresholds for appropriate referral which we always follow”.

For its investigation, Tees approached hospital trusts across the UK with a Freedom of Information request, asking for data on their stillbirth rates across four periods between 2019 and 2022.

The firm said there is “significant variation” in stillbirth rates between different hospitals.

A spokesperson said: “Bradford Teaching Hospitals Foundation Trust, for example, recorded stillbirth rates of 0.81 per cent, 0.56 per cent, 0.57 per cent and 0.73 per cent across the four periods between 2019 and 2022, while Tameside and Glossop Integrated Care recorded rates of 0.46 per cent, 0.51 per cent, 0.50 per cent and 0.31 per cent across the same periods.”

Bradford Royal Infirmary

The 2030 target is 2.3 per 1,000 births (0.23 per cent).

The firm said its report also revealed disparities regarding referring neonatal deaths to a coroner.

Some trusts referred all neonatal deaths to the coroner, regardless of whether the cause of death was known or unknown, whilst others only referred cases where the cause of death was unknown.

Tees said: “Bradford Teaching Hospitals Foundation Trust recorded 80 neonatal deaths across the four periods (the fifth highest number of all the Trusts who responded – although it should be noted that this number could be so high because Bradford is a ‘centre of excellence’ to which more difficult or dangerous cases are often referred).

“However, they only had data on referrals to a coroner for the very last period (April 1 to December 31, 2022).

“In its response, the hospital noted ‘data relating to medical cause and referral to the coroner is not available electronically before 2022, therefore unavailable.”

“Regarding its guidelines on such referrals, it added ‘there is nothing specific in place at present but it will be being incorporated into a new guideline in the next few months’.”

The report looks at stillbirths and neo-natal deaths (Image: Pixabay)

A spokesperson for Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said: “Our maternity and neonatal services provide safe, high-quality care to patients, families and service users.

“The reduction of stillbirths is one of the trust’s key priorities and we have seen a reduction in numbers over the last few years in line with the national NHS ‘halve it’ campaign. Our Outstanding Maternity Services programme is also driving the delivery of high-quality maternity care.

“Our maternity service has worked closely with Bradford and Craven Maternity Craven Maternity Voices Partnership, which represents pregnant mums and new parents in the Bradford area, to promote a healthy pregnancy and the importance of attending the maternity unit with any concerns regarding baby movements.

"These vital health messages are shared frequently on social media platforms in multiple languages."

Addressing neonatal deaths, the spokesperson added: “We are a regional Neonatal Intensive Care Unit so would expect higher numbers of deaths due to the number of very sick babies we look after.

"However, MBRRACE (Mothers and Babies: Reducing Risk through Audits and Confidential Enquiries across the UK) data – to which we contribute - shows that our neonatal death rate has fallen consistently over the last four years and is now lower than average compared to similar hospitals.

“Decisions on referral to the coronial service is based on national and trust criteria.

"The neonatal service has met with the local coroner to agree thresholds for appropriate referral which we always follow.

"There is now further oversight of whether a case needs discussing with the coroner following introduction of the statutory medical examiner system which is now embedded as a routine part of practice.

"The trust’s neonatal guideline has been updated to reflect these changes and careful records of all coronial referrals are kept.”