Brain damage responsible for majority of newborn deaths, finds Scottish study
Despite major advances in medicine in modern times, the death of newborn babies has not been eradicated, even in the countries with the best medical facilities. Distressingly for parents and medical professionals alike, only ten per cent of babies that die during the newborn period have problems identified during labour and delivery. A major study of deaths among newborn babies in Scotland has been investigating the cause of death in the other 90 per cent, and those involved now believe that brain damage incurred in the womb is the cause of death in the majority of cases. The study centred on 137 newborn babies who died in Scotland over a two year period. In none of the cases were any indicators identified in either the mother, the pregnancy or the labour that could have predicted difficulties for the newborn. Autopsies carried out on two thirds of the newborns found evidence of significant brain damage in 36 per cent of those born early and 61 per cent of those born at term. The findings are expected to help parents and doctors who feel they should have noticed problems prior to or during the birth, and may also reduce the number of legal actions taken against medical staff for perceived negligence. Project leader Neil McIntosh from the University of Edinburgh praised the families who took part in the research: 'We are indebted to the parents who, despite the turmoil surrounding the deaths of their infants and knowing that the results would not personally help them at their time of grief, allowed these detailed investigations to proceed. We intend that this study will lead to more research into the monitoring of pregnancies.'
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