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Babies born outside working hours are 'more likely to die' (Government HC)
The UK Telegraph ^ | July 16, 2010 | Rebecca Smith

Posted on 07/16/2010 12:36:32 AM PDT by Pinkbell

Research involving one million births over 20 years found that those born outside the normal nine to five Monday to Friday working hours were more likely to die.

The principle cause of death in these infants was lack of oxygen which can be due to a lack of senior clinical staff to spot the problem and react quickly.

The researchers from Cambridge University said the overall increased risk was small, the difference of one or two extra deaths per 10,000 live babies born, but extra staffing would minimise the problem.

It comes after research published last month found patients were more likely to die if they were admitted to hospital at weekends.

A major report in June also said the NHS was "too reliant" on trainees outside of normal working hours and called on consultants to work more flexibly.

For the latest study, cases from Scotland were analysed but experts said the findings could be generalised to the rest of Britain.

Gordon Smith, professor of obstetrics and gynaecology, and colleagues from the University of Cambridge analysed 539 neonatal deaths which are defined as occurring at birth or in the first four weeks of life and were not related to congenital abnormalities.

The overall risk of death was 4.2 per 10,000 live births during the working week, rising to 5.6 per 10,000 at all other times.

Around half of the 539 deaths recorded were due to a lack of oxygen. The experts said the higher rate of death out of hours was due to "a significant excess risk" – 70% higher – of the baby dying due to lack of oxygen.

(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; News/Current Events; United Kingdom
KEYWORDS: babies; healthcare; nhs
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A further snippet from the end of the article:

Janet Scott, Research Manager, at Sands, a charity for parents affected by stillbirth or the death of a newborn, said: “It is shocking that some babies are dying in our maternity units directly because the quality of care at night and at weekends is of a poorer standard than care during working hours.

“Had these babies been born at a different time of day they may well have survived. This is completely unacceptable. A baby’s life should not rest on whether or not they are born in office hours.

“This study confirms the stories that Sands hears time and again from parents whose baby has died and who feel the care they received was below standard because the staff were poorly prepared to deal with the unexpected or that it took too long to access the facilities that might have saved their baby’s life. The loss of a baby is hard enough to bear, but it is even more agonising if you know that the death might have been avoided.”

Ah, the joys of government run healthcare.

1 posted on 07/16/2010 12:36:35 AM PDT by Pinkbell
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To: Pinkbell

And that’s not the case here?


2 posted on 07/16/2010 12:58:42 AM PDT by Gondring (Paul Revere would have been flamed as a naysayer troll and told to go back to Boston.)
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To: Pinkbell; Gondring
Ah, the joys of government run healthcare.

List by the United Nations Population Division

Infant mortality rates per 1000 live births

Rank       Deaths
               per 1000

22            4.8        UK
32            6.3        USA

List by the CIA World Factbook 2009

Infant mortality rates per 1000 live births

Rank       Deaths
               per 1000

32            4.85      UK
46            6.26      USA

 

3 posted on 07/16/2010 2:50:34 AM PDT by Cardhu
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To: Cardhu

The way we count “live” births and how the British and others count them is different. This statistic you show has been disputed for several years.


4 posted on 07/16/2010 3:12:15 AM PDT by DeusExMachina05 (I will not go into Dhimmitude quietly.)
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To: Gondring

Excellent point.

It is not possible for the most qualified and experienced people to be present all the time. It’s very probably the case that this differential is inevitable. Tragic.


5 posted on 07/16/2010 3:13:41 AM PDT by Sherman Logan
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To: DeusExMachina05

True. The numbers are very low in any case for both countries. Also the US has (still) a considerably more diverse population that UK. If you extract the considerably higher rates of certain US minority groups the rates are very similar.


6 posted on 07/16/2010 3:16:19 AM PDT by Sherman Logan
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To: DeusExMachina05
The way we count “live” births and how the British and others count them is different. This statistic you show has been disputed for several years.

Yeah right, how you count anything is different to the rest of the world. Delusion, life long conditioning and foam finger waving will beat hard facts everytime.

And, of course, the CIA will always downplay your sucesses.

7 posted on 07/16/2010 3:24:02 AM PDT by Cardhu
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To: Cardhu; All

Apples and oranges. Far more high risk pregnancies go to term in the US. Further the data collection standards from country to country vary wildly.


8 posted on 07/16/2010 3:37:30 AM PDT by driftdiver (I could eat it raw, but why do that when I have a fire.)
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To: Sherman Logan

“It’s very probably the case that this differential is inevitable. Tragic.”

So why couldn’t you hire an experienced person to work the night shift?


9 posted on 07/16/2010 3:39:01 AM PDT by driftdiver (I could eat it raw, but why do that when I have a fire.)
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To: Cardhu

“Yeah right, how you count anything is different to the rest of the world. Delusion, life long conditioning and foam finger waving will beat hard facts everytime.”

Cold hard facts is the data in European countries is manipulated crap.


10 posted on 07/16/2010 3:41:20 AM PDT by driftdiver (I could eat it raw, but why do that when I have a fire.)
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To: Cardhu

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infant_mortality

Read down a bit and get clued in man. But dont let the “facts” get in your way.


11 posted on 07/16/2010 3:41:45 AM PDT by DeusExMachina05 (I will not go into Dhimmitude quietly.)
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To: Sherman Logan
Aren't they more likely to do planned C Sections during normal business hours which also reduces this problem?
12 posted on 07/16/2010 4:05:33 AM PDT by chipper dave
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To: driftdiver

Exactly.


13 posted on 07/16/2010 4:05:56 AM PDT by Pinkbell
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To: DeusExMachina05
I did and notice you missed the most important observation:

"However, the report also concludes that the differences in reporting are unlikely to be the primary explanation for the United States’ relatively low international ranking.[10]"

14 posted on 07/16/2010 4:17:51 AM PDT by Cardhu
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To: Cardhu
In just the city I live in, no fewer than ELEVEN infants have died THIS YEAR in co-sleeping deaths. In every case, the baby was born healthy and then taken home and killed by one of their family members by being smothered in their sleep. In your book, these deaths are no different than those that die of natural causes or medical error. These deaths would all count against the infant mortality rates for the country and allow people like who to feel all superior that you can point out how our IMR is worse than the craphole medical systems of Europe.

These deaths were preventable but had nothing at all to do with the quality of our medical care.

15 posted on 07/16/2010 4:26:21 AM PDT by Trust but Verify
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To: Pinkbell

Isn’t all of GB’s health care unionized?


16 posted on 07/16/2010 5:00:52 AM PDT by raybbr (Someone who invades another country is NOT an immigrant - illegal or otherwise.)
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To: Trust but Verify

Sad - but only relevant if deaths of the kind you describe don’t also happen in the UK (which they do).


17 posted on 07/16/2010 5:58:22 AM PDT by Winniesboy
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To: Cardhu

The United States counts very early preemies as babies and tries to save them. Most of Europe and Asia count them as stillbirths, neither recording the birth as a birth or the death as infant mortality. Our preemie survival rate is actually 20-25 % better than Japan and Europe, because we try to save them.


18 posted on 07/16/2010 6:43:20 AM PDT by tbw2 (Freeper sci-fi - "Humanity's Edge" - on amazon.com)
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To: Pinkbell

I’ve posted a thread http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2553687/posts requesting a Socialized Medicine Forum topic so we can put all this stuff under 1 topic to make it easier to find and use. Please chime in.


19 posted on 07/16/2010 6:44:47 AM PDT by GailA (obamacare paid for by cuts & taxes on most vulnerable Veterans, retired Military, disabled & Seniors)
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To: driftdiver

There are only a certain number of highly experienced people available. Spreading them out evenly across the clock is likely to result in fewer present than now during business hours and therefore a reduction in good outcomes during those periods.


20 posted on 07/16/2010 9:21:26 PM PDT by Sherman Logan
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