http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKTRE67U5FH20100831

Full-term babies born a bit on the early or late side are at higher risk of cerebral palsy, according to a new study in nearly 1.7 million Norwegian children. ”It is important to emphasize that the absolute risk is still very low and the vast majority of children being born some weeks away from 40 weeks (full-term) will not develop cerebral palsy,” Dr. Dag Moster of the University of Bergen in Norway, one of the study’s authors, told Reuters Health. Cerebral palsy is a collective term for several disorders that involve the brain and nervous system that first appear in early childhood. It is the most common reason for disability in childhood and is thought to occur because the brain has been damaged during fetal development or early infancy.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-11111506

A test which could stop women labouring for hours in the hope of a “normal” birth only to end up with a Caesarean section has been developed in Sweden. Researchers have established that when high levels of lactic acid are measured in the amniotic fluid, it is unlikely the mother will deliver vaginally. Measuring this acid could help decide whether to end a difficult labour and opt for a Caesarean earlier. The test is being rolled out in a number of European hospitals.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-11071881

Having an epidural during labour may protect key muscles and therefore cut the risk of incontinence in later life, a study of nearly 400 women suggests. Research in the BJOG, the leading obstetrics journal, found more than one in ten women who had vaginal births suffered damage to the “levator” muscles which hold up internal organs. A third of those who had a forceps delivery suffered some muscle trauma. But overall women who had the spinal analgesia ran a lower risk of damage. Injury to the pelvic muscles during childbirth is known to be a key risk factor for organ prolapse.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-10997753

Women who are given psychological support by specially trained health visitors are less likely to develop post-natal depression, says a report. The findings are in a study, from the universities of Leicester, Nottingham and Sheffield, of more than 2,000 women following childbirth. Health visitors were trained in assessing mental health problems and giving psychological support.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2010/aug/16/homebirths-midwives-hospital-baby

A “concerted and calculated” backlash by some doctors is downplaying the benefits of home births and has involved the use of “flawed” evidence to support claims that babies were more likely to die if not born in hospital, the general secretary of the Royal College of Midwives claims today. Cathy Warwick, who heads the body that represents 38,000 midwives in Britain, has been incensed by a recent paper presented by US academics last month that claimed a home birth carried three times the risk that a baby would die. It prompted the respected medical journal the Lancet to write, in an editorial, that “women have the right to choose how and where to give birth, but they do not have the right to put their baby at risk”. In an interview with the Guardian, Warwick described the Lancet editorial as “sweeping and misogynistic”.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-10806450

The right of women to choose whether they have home births is being questioned by a top medical journal. The Lancet said mothers-to-be should not be able to opt for them if they put their babies at risk – under UK law women can override medical advice. It comes after research suggested home births were more risky than hospital delivery. But doctors said it was rare for women to ignore their wishes in high-risk, complicated cases.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-10700910

The percentage of babies who are stillborn has fallen but still remains higher than it was in the late 1990s, a report has found. The Centre for Maternal and Child Enquiries (CMACE) found little difference between the UK nations but significant local variations. Deprivation, ethnicity and age all appeared to influence whether a baby is stillborn or dies shortly after birth.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/7901876/Twin-born-after-23-week-pregnancy-becomes-most-premature-baby-to-survive.html

A twin girl has become the youngest baby to be born prematurely and survive in Britain, it has been claimed. Amelia Hope Burden was born before the 24-week legal limit for abortion when her mother was just 23 weeks and two days pregnant, the Daily Mail reported. She was born weighing only 1lb 2oz ten days before her brother Arthur arrived at 1lb 4oz. He was born in July after Amanda Staplehurst had been pregnant for 24 weeks. She went to hospital complaining of stomach cramps only to be told that she was in labour. Amelia Hope showed little sign of life but doctors were able to revive her. Under law they are not obliged to do so unless they feel it is in the child’s best interest.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/7892244/Babies-born-outside-working-hours-are-more-likely-to-die.html

Babies born outside normal working hours are up to 70 per cent more likely to die through being starved of oxygen because of a lack of senior clinicians on the wards, a study has found. Research involving one million births over 20 years found that those born outside the normal nine to five Monday to Friday working hours were more likely to die. The principle cause of death in these infants was lack of oxygen which can be due to a lack of senior clinical staff to spot the problem and react quickly. The researchers from Cambridge University said the overall increased risk was small, the difference of one or two extra deaths per 10,000 live babies born, but extra staffing would minimise the problem.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/10572581.stm

More than half of maternity units are still lacking a dedicated bereavement support midwife, a survey suggests. The stillbirth charity Sands also found that nearly half have no specific room on the labour ward for a mother whose baby has died, where she is shielded from the sounds of other newborns. Seventeen babies are stillborn or die shortly after birth a day in the UK. The Department of Health said it wants “high quality maternity services everywhere with the right facilities”.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/10554122.stm

Pregnant teenagers are more likely to give birth prematurely and have a small baby than women in their 20s, says an Irish research team. Fourteen to 17-year-olds were also more likely to give birth early if they were having a second child, a study of more than 50,000 women in England found. The findings, reported in BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth, highlighted the importance of routine medical checks. The team said more studies were needed to find out why the young were at risk.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/wales_politics/10505493.stm

Vulnerable babies in Wales are at risk from understaffed, ill-equipped and over-capacity hospital facilities, says an assembly health committee report. A cross-party group of AMs found too few resources placing “extreme” pressure on neonatal services. Their report calls for the assembly government to address high occupancy rates and severe understaffing.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/10448034.stm

The World Health Organization has dropped its recommendation that fewer births be carried out by Caesarean section, saying there was no evidence for a limit. The WHO had previously advised that no more than 10 to 15% of babies be delivered by section, a figure often cited by those concerned about rates in the UK – where one in four babies comes into the world in this way. But now the WHO states that “there is no empirical evidence for an optimum percentage” and stresses that “what matters most is that all women who need Caesarean sections receive them”.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/10465473.stm

Women who plan home births recover more rapidly from childbirth, but there is a higher risk of their child dying, an international study suggests. US analysis of more than 500,000 births in North America and Europe found death rates for babies in planned home births were double that of those in planned hospital births. But the risk was still low, at 0.2%. UK doctors said the evidence needed to be taken into account, but a midwives’ body questioned its relevance.