1,000 babies die 'unnecessarily' each year due to midwife shortage

A quarter of the 4,000 stillbirths which take place in the UK annually could be avoided if medical staff took action during pregnancy, says Professor Jason Gardosi, director of the Perinatal Institute in Birmingham.

Britain has one of the worst records for stillbirths in western Europe, with double the rate in Italy, Sweden and Switzerland.

The professor blames this performance on a combination of low staffing levels and poor training. Clinicians needed to be better trained to spot signs of foetal growth restriction, a condition in which the baby does not grow properly in the womb.

"Our research has shown the largest percentage of stillbirths were associated with the baby not having grown well in the womb," said Professor Gardosi.

"It found that the majority of these stillbirths were potentially avoidable."

At a conference this week he will unveil findings of a ten-year study which show that 40 per cent of all stillbirths are growth-restricted.

Of these, around two-thirds could have been prevented if action had been taken.

"If we can recognise that babies are not growing as they should then they can be further investigated and, if necessary, delivered at the right time and in good condition."

His findings come as it emerged the NHS is facing a £4.5billion legal bill for errors which have led to babies being born with severe brain damage.

The NHS Litigation Authority said most of this was due to infants being starved of oxygen during birth.

The new president of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, Professor Sabaratnam Amulkumaran, warned there are too few consultants and midwives on wards to ensure babies are safe.

"The staffing numbers for consultants aren't adequate at 40 to 50 per cent of hospitals in the UK and I'm sure that will apply to midwives too," he said.

"The risk incidence must be greater at those hospitals.

"There's a direct connection between staffing levels and the risk for patients."

He wants to see the number of consultants employed in maternity units increased from 1,600 to 2,500.

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• A hospital condemned over the deaths of 10 women in childbirth is facing a new probe after a woman died in labour.

Last year the Healthcare Commission found that the maternal death rate after labour was seven times the national average at Northwick Park Hospital in north London.

Now a woman in her 20s has died at the hospital after amniotic fluid from the womb entered the bloodstream.