Does training in obstetric emergencies improve neonatal outcome?
Draycott T; Sibanda T; Owen L; Akande V; Winter C; Reading S; Whitelaw A Women’s and Children’s Directorate, Southmead Hospital, and Department of Clinical Science at North Bristol, University of Bristol, UK. OBJECTIVES: To determine whether the introduction of Obstetrics Emergency Training in line with the recommendations of the Clinical Negligence Scheme for Trusts (CNST) was associated with a reduction in perinatal asphyxia and neonatal hypoxic-ischaemic encephalopathy (HIE). DESIGN: A retrospective cohort observational study. SETTING: A tertiary referral maternity unit in a teaching hospital. POPULATION: Term, cephalic presenting, singleton infants born at Southmead Hospital between 1998 and 2003 were identified; those born by elective Caesarean sections were excluded. METHOD: Five-minute Apgar scores were reviewed. Infants that developed HIE were prospectively identified throughout this period. The study compared the period ‘pre-training’ (1998-1999), with the period ‘post-trainin
