Staffordshire: Covid factors linked to hospital baby deaths spike

Maternity teams cared for mothers and babies across the West Midlands during the period under review, the trust said

An increase in the number of babies dying in Staffordshire hospitals may be linked to Covid-19, the trust says.

A total of 17 babies aged between 22 and 26 weeks died in 2021, compared to 13 the year before, trust figures show.

Mortality rates among admitted babies within the age range rose to 48.60% in 2021 from 37.10% in 2020, indicating nearly half did not survive.

The trust said it cared for more babies in 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

A "significant increase" in neonatal death review numbers in 2021 led to "an escalation and early analysis of local and regional data to determine if there was a specific local issue with neonatal mortality", said University Hospitals of North Midlands (UHNM) NHS Trust which runs Royal Stoke University Hospital and Stafford's County Hospital.

While Stoke-on-Trent has historically had higher rates of infant and neonatal mortality, due to deprivation and other factors, no other hospital trust in the region had a similar increase in deaths in 2021.

The trust said it admitted a higher number of 22 to 23-week-old babies in 2021 than previously, which was likely driven by changes in national guidance and the effect of Covid causing premature labour.

'Combat staff shortages'

All deaths on the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at UHNM underwent comprehensive review and no systematic or thematic issues were identified, although there were a number of cases where scheduled observations were not recorded, which was potentially related to nursing staffing levels, the trust said.

To combat staff shortages, it added, up to £600,000 was to be spent "as quickly and robustly as possible to facilitate nurse recruitment", with the number of neonatal consultants also increased.

A quarterly review of neonatal death rates would also take place, the trust said.

Dr Matthew Lewis, medical director at UHNM, said: "In 2021 our maternity teams not only cared for mothers and babies from Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent but due to Covid-19 they also supported pregnant women regionally across the West Midlands during what was an unprecedented time.

"During this period, as a result of Covid, UHNM saw an increased number of premature babies being cared for in its neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), especially in very young neonates.

"It is likely this increase was driven by changes to guidance for the management of extreme preterm babies but also the effect of Covid-19 causing premature labour."

The actual number of NICU deaths for January to March 2022 is back to normal levels according to current analysis, he added.