Response to FOI - rbh 776

1) How many stillborns have there been in the Royal Berkshire Hospital in the past 2 years?

Please note this information is available in the Trust's maternity reports which are available on our website. A link is provided below.

http://info.datix.co.uk/net/rbbh/guidelinesberkshire.nsf/Document?OpenFrameSet&Frame=Document&Src=%2Fnet%2Frbbh%2Fguidelinesberkshire.nsf%2Fpublished%2Fd6656646e66646548025701c0059091c!OpenDocument%26AutoFramed

2) How many of these stillborns involved the attendance of Consultant Obstetrician Lakshmi Shanmugasundaram and/or Anaesthetic Specialist Registrar Amy Swinson?

We do not collect information centrally as to which members of staff were present when a woman is admitted with a stillbirth. The only information that is collected is gestation of pregnancy and cause of stillbirth if known.

In many cases a baby could have died in utero days (or in some cases weeks) before a woman presents at delivery suite and the diagnosis of stillbirth made. Pregnant women are booked either under midwife care or consultant care. If a woman is admitted with a diagnosis of stillbirth the care of that woman is allocated to the consultant on call for that day.

The only way to determine who was present at each of these deliveries or during the labour of each patient is to individually review the patient notes to ascertain which members of staff were involved in their care during labour together with the on call rotas. In the majority of cases it will not be possible to determine who was present at the time of stillbirth as already stated this may have occurred prior to the woman's admission.

During the period of your enquiry there were a total of 53 cases and in order to individually retrieve the patient notes, review the documentation and collate the information you have requested would exceed the cost limit laid out by the Act.