Stillbirth rate 40% lower here than in Britain ‘because of greater use of scans’

IRELAND’S stillbirth rate is 40% lower than Britain’s because of the increased use of ultrasound scans by Irish maternity hospitals throughout a woman’s pregnancy, a medical expert claimed last night.

Consultant obstetrician Dr Daniel McKenna said ultrasound tests should be used in the latter stages of both low- and high-risk pregnancies in maternity hospitals as a matter of routine to prevent problems.

And, he said, while a low-risk pregnancy was considered as a retrospective diagnosis, only pregnancies considered to be high-risk in Britain were examined during the last trimester.