What is Neonatal encephalopathy?
Neonatal encephalopathy (NE) is a condition which is defined clinically as abnormal neurological behaviour at birth. It manifests itself “by difficulty with initiating and maintaining respiration, depression of tone and reflexes, subnormal level of consciousness, and often by seizures” (Nelson & Leviton, 1991). Perinatal brain injury (e.g. encephalopathy) led to major litigation claims for NHS Trusts costing between £ 1.5 and £ 4 million per case (DOH 2000). There are approximately a thousand cases relating to birth injury every year; it was recommended that negligent harm due to obstetric care should be reduced by 25% in 2005 (D0H 2000). Identify avoidable factors ralating to IP related mortality and morbidity is an important first step towards decreasing litigation costs in the area of maternity service provision.
CEMACHs project
The full business cae for this project was presented to the NPSA in February 2009. The project will run from 2010-2013 and will involve:
- an organisational survey investigating the extent to which services are organised to prevent this occurance
- an audit of intrapartum care
- a case control study to identify avoidable factors that may be associated with intrapartum related stillbirth and neonatal death
For more information on the project, please contact our central office on 020 7486 1191