NHS Improvement. Patient Safety Alert: Assessment and management of babies who are accidentally dropped in hospital (9 May 2019)

Summary

The risks of accidentally dropping a baby are well known, particularly when a parent falls asleep while holding a baby; or when a parent or healthcare worker holding the baby slips, trips or falls. However, despite healthcare staff routinely using a range of approaches to make handling of babies as safe as possible, and advising new parents on how to safely feed, carry and change their babies, on rare occasions babies are accidentally dropped. This safety alert was issued after a consultant neonatologist raised concerns about an increase in the number of accidentally dropped babies in his organisation.

A search of the National Reporting and Learning System (NRLS) for a recent 12 month period identified; 182 babies who had been accidentally dropped in obstetric/ midwifery inpatient settings (eight with significant reported injuries, including fractured skulls and/or intracranial bleeds), 66 babies accidentally dropped on paediatric wards, and two in mother and baby units in mental health trusts. Almost all of these 250 incidents occurred when the baby was in the care of parents or visiting family members.