Higher risk of death or injury for babies born at weekends

According to research undertaken by Imperial College London, babies born in hospitals at the weekend in England have a “significantly” higher risk of dying or incurring brain damage than those born on weekdays.

The study, published in the British Medical Journal, of 1.3 million births, found that there were 7.1 deaths out of 1,000 babies born at weekends, which was 7% higher than on weekdays.

A separate earlier study has shown that patients admitted to hospital at weekends had a higher risk of death than patients admitted during the week. This research has aided ministers in their campaign to increase service availability during the weekend, a policy which has led junior doctors to vote for strike action next week.

This latest study took into account risk factors such as the age of the mother and depravation, together with the fact that planned Caesarean sections usually take place on weekdays, which carry a lower risk.

Dr William Palmer, the study’s lead researcher, said that the higher risk of death and injury was “concerning” and that it needed further investigation.

A spokesperson for NHS England said “Most mums say they get excellent NHS maternity care, but for a small number of families that is not the case and it’s vital that we take every step to continuously improve quality and safety.

“We have commissioned a wider independent review of NHS maternity services, which will assess how best we can respond to England’s growing birth rate and the need for well-staffed and safe services that give mums more say over their care.”

President of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, Dr David Richmond, said “Although no definitive conclusions can be drawn from these results, they emphasise the need to identify the possible causes in order to ensure that women are receiving high-quality care at any given time of the week.”

Chadwick Lawrence’s team of Medical negligence lawyers have years of experience in high value and complex Medical negligence compensation claims and have an excellent record. The team is led by Tony May, a specialist cerebral palsy and birth injury solicitor, who has over 20 years experience in handling cases in which babies have been brain damaged or sustained other injuries as a result of Medical negligence. He and his team continue to represent many cerebral palsy children and young adults in Medical negligence claims. Tony also acts as the Court of Protection Deputy for many of the cerebral palsy and brain damaged clients that he has represented, so we can continue to support you after your case is settled. Tony can be contacted by email on tonymay@chadlaw.co.uk. Alternatively, please call and speak to any of Chadwick Lawrence’s specialist Medical negligence Legal Aid and no win-no fee solicitors for free legal advice on the freephone number below.

Freephone: 0800 028 2969

For further information, please see our cerebral palsy and birth injury website:
http://www.cerebralpalsyclaimssolicitors.co.uk

Posted by Tony May, Partner/head of Clinical Negligence Department, Chadwick Lawrence LLP (tonymay@chadlaw.co.uk ), Medical negligence lawyers and clinical negligence solicitors in Huddersfield, Leeds, Wakefield and Halifax, West Yorkshire.