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 ...
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.
And that’s not the case here?
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
“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?
“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.
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.
Exactly.
"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]"
These deaths were preventable but had nothing at all to do with the quality of our medical care.
Isn’t all of GB’s health care unionized?
Sad - but only relevant if deaths of the kind you describe don’t also happen in the UK (which they do).
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.
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.
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.
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