NHS do not give 40% of premature babies enough care according to new survey

July 6, 2016

There would be nearly a fifth fewer deaths if 90 per cent of all babies born before 32 weeks were given the full care package, damning report reveals
Premature babies face higher risks of death and serious illness

Rosie Taylor for the Daily Mail

Published:
17:32 EST, 5 July 2016

|
Updated:
17:58 EST, 5 July 2016

View
comments

Two in five premature babies are not receiving potentially lifesaving care, scientists warn.

Less than 60 per cent of premature babies studied across 11 European countries received a package of four simple care measures known to improve survival, researchers found.

But there would be nearly a fifth fewer deaths if 90 per cent of all babies born before 32 weeks were given the full care package, the study published in the BMJ suggested.

Premature babies face higher risks of death and serious illness compared with babies born at full term.

Less than 60 per cent of premature babies studied across 11 European countries received a package of four simple care measures known to improve survival, new research found

Doctors have found effective methods to improve survival and reduce illness but these are not always used – sometimes because of a lack of planning or because hospitals decide babies would not benefit.

Researchers looked at the births of 7,336 babies born between 24 and 31 weeks in countries across Europe, including the UK, France, Germany and the Netherlands.

They examined how often four practices known to improve premature babies’ survival and health were used.

These were:

* Babies being born in a hospital maternity unit with adequate neonatal intensive care facilities

* Being given corticosteroids before birth to help lung development

* Prevention of hypothermia

* Early treatment for breathing problems.

Eating MORE fat while cutting carbs and quitting sugar can…

Lying with your legs in the air DOESN’T increase the chance…

Women who take aspirin before sex are more likely to give…

Just a small amount of weight loss could help women get…

Most babies received at least one of the practices, but only 58.3 per cent received all four – despite evidence showing it could help them.

Really premature babies – born before 26 weeks – were even less likely to receive all four care treatments, as were those who were smaller or in a worse condition than normal.

But researchers found that having the full package of care was linked with improved survival, even when all other factors affecting a baby’s health were taken into account.

And if the proportion of premature babies given all four treatments was increased to 90 per cent, there could be an 18 per cent reduction in deaths, they said.

The UK fared better than most other countries studied, with around 71 per cent of babies receiving all four treatments on average across the three regions studied: the Midlands, North and Yorkshire and Humber.

Less than half of premature babies received the full package in parts of France and Italy, as well as in Denmark, the Netherlands and Portugal. In the Lisbon area of Portugal less than a third received all four care practices.

The researchers said: ‘These results suggest that more comprehensive use of these high evidence and widely accessible practices could yield substantial gains in survival without severe morbidity for these infants at high risk.’

Professor Peter Davis, director of neonatal medicine at the Royal Women’s Hospital in Melbourne, Australia, said the proportion of babies given the full care package in the developed world nations studied was ‘surprisingly low’.

In a linked editorial, he wrote: ‘Getting good evidence into practice is an urgent priority for the families of vulnerable premature babies, and for the professionals who care for them.’

Professor Davis said it may be that in some cases medics tried to use the practices but were unable to – perhaps because the health of the baby or the speed of delivery made it impossible.

He said this may be why babies born very prematurely, who were smaller and at high risk of poor health were less likely to receive the full care package.