Confidential enquiry into the deaths of Asian and Asian British babies: joint letter to Nadine Dorries, MP (6 September 2021)

Summary

This joint letter calls on Nadine Dorries MP, Minister for Patient Safety, Suicide Prevention and Mental Health, to urgently fund a confidential enquiry into the deaths of Asian and Asian British babies. It is signed by the Chief Executives of Sands, The Royal College of Midwives, NCT and the President of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists.

Content

 The letter states that despite recent improvements, the current trajectory in reducing the rate of stillbirths means the Government will be a long way off achieving their National Maternity Safety Ambition to reduce stillbirths and neonatal deaths by 50% by 2025.

It argues that tackling the inequality in outcomes for babies will be key to achieving that target, highlighting that compared with white babies, stillbirth rates for Black/Black British babies are twice as high, and, for Asian/Asian British babies they are 1.6 times as high. For babies from the most deprived families, stillbirth rates are 1.7 times higher than from the least deprived.

The authors note that while a confidential enquiry into deaths of Black and Black British babies is underway and will report at the end of 2022, the confidential enquiry into the deaths of Asian and Asian British babies, proposed at the same time, will not be going ahead, as NHS England have been unable to find funding for it. They call for the Department of Health and Social Care will urgently fund a much-needed confidential enquiry into the deaths of Asian and Asian British babies.