BBC Panorama

Hi Guys, this is the basics of the bbc panorama 'Born Sleeping'.  Can I add that I am not a journalist, all numbers/costs quoted are approximate as I recall.  This post is to summarise only.

The programme started with a synopsis of stillbirth statistics, a few interviews with couples who have been through the tragedy of still birth, and a discussion of how these statistics are unacceptable.  There was a clip of a doctor's meeting where they were discussing the fact that although these deaths were unexplained that should not mean they should be accepted.  There was a discussion around the societal acceptance of still birth as a terrible tragedy, but also as something accepted as 'one of those things' rather than something that could be tackled.

It then moved on to discuss the positive work that had been done raising awareness of cot death, with an interview with Anne Diamond. The point of this segment was to highlight the fact that research in New Zealand relating to lying babies on their backs instead of their fronts had not been rolled out to the public by the NHS. The NHS said at the time there was not enough evidence to back up the work done in NZ.  Anne Diamond discussed how thousands of babies had potentially been saved by the laying down on the back rather than the front.  Presumably this was calculated by the drop in the death rate over the years, it was not made clear.

The next part was the main focus of the programme.  It focussed on the work of 3 consultants in 3 different hospitals who were doing extra screenings to try to reduce the still birth rate.  The first had introduced a growth rate chart, personalised to each woman based on pre pregnancy weight/height/previous pregnancies.  The midwives caring for women can measure the woman's stomach, and if the measurement is not within the arch of the growth chart, can sent the woman for an extra scan to check growth.  This costs 50p per woman.  This screening has been rolled out as a pilot across the West Midlands and the consultant discussed how this had highlighted babies with growth problems and allowed them to be
monitored more closely.  I can't remember what drop in still birth rate this had given, but it had reduced in a drop.

The second consultant was giving doppler scans to all first time mothers as part of their care, to check the placenta is functioning correctly. Current guidelines are to give doppler scans to high risk pregnancies only, but this consultant was giving scans to all first time mothers as well.  The still birth rate has dropped by 50% in his hospital.  This was a cost of £15 per pregnancy (I think, could have been per scan).  The NHS are not currently changing their guidelines to recommend this level of care as they do not feel there is enough evidence to support the figures.

The third consultant also used doppler scans, at around 12, 20 and 34 weeks in addition to ultrasound scanning.  He gave this to all pregnant women.  He believed that most problems could be identified at the 12 week doppler scan.  He believed this level of care could save 50% of babies.

There was a short segment at the end on the NHS research currently ongoing (i think about 6 years).  12 million? is being spent researching still birth, partly by looking at placentas.  The argument from the research doctor is that research needs to be done on a larger scale and be proven to be safe and effective before changing the care of the thousands of women giving birth each year in the UK.

So that is an overview of the programme, hope that is clear.