HSE investigates deaths and birth-related brain injuries of nearly 500 babies in four years

Some of the 488 cases are defined as 'serious incidents' that 'may result in death or serious harm' while others are 'serious incidents' which need to be examined to determine if 'safety was compromised'. File picture

The HSE has carried out reviews into almost 500 baby deaths and birth-related brain injuries over the past four years.

A large number of the reviews (247) focused on stillborn babies, or those who died within a week of being born, between 2020 and 2023. The deaths of a further 241 babies, who either died within a month of birth or who survived but suffered brain dysfunction, were also investigated. 

Two organisations campaigning for reform of maternity services, Safer Births Ireland and AIMS Ireland, are seeking an independent inquiry into avoidable baby deaths.

All 488 cases referenced in a Freedom of Information request by the Irish Examiner were classified as care management events, which fall into the HSE category of Serious Reportable Events (SREs). They were reported to the HSE’s National Incident Management System (NIMS). 

Some are defined as “serious incidents” that “may result in death or serious harm” while others are “serious incidents” which need to be examined to determine if “safety was compromised”.

All SREs must be reported on NIMS, and investigations into them have to be launched within 48 hours and completed within four months. The HSE has stressed that where a death has occurred, it does not “necessarily” mean the death resulted from the 'serious reportable event'.

A HSE spokesperson said: “The HSE definition of a Serious Reportable Event (SRE) includes that they are largely preventable.

“However, each case has to be considered on its own merits (and) the extent to which the event was avoidable will only be determined after the review is complete.

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“The cause of death and whether the event was avoidable may, in some cases, only be determined by the pathologist, for example, a pre-existing problem with a placenta.

“In other cases, the review might find different clinical management might have resulted in a different outcome, in which case the event was probably avoidable.” 

The HSE also pointed out that some of the babies may have had genetic disorders and “conditions incompatible with life and could not be preventable”.

According to HSE Perinatal Statistics Report for 2021, Ireland’s Perinatal Mortality Rate (PMR) was 5.5 per 1,000 live births and stillbirths in 2021. This was lower than eight other EU countries listed in the report, including Germany and Bulgaria, whose mortality rates were 6% and 8.7% respectively.

'Deeply alarming'

A Safer Births Ireland spokesperson said: “The revelation that there have been 488 reportable deaths or injuries in a four-year-period is deeply alarming.

“That there are question marks over so many baby deaths and injuries in such a short space of time further underlines the need for a wider review of avoidable baby deaths and injuries in Ireland.” 

AIMS Ireland chair Krysia Lynch said: “It is shocking to see there have been so many investigations, but it is good to hear investigations have at least been undertaken.”

Some 226,605 babies were born in Ireland between 2020 and 2023, but 1,500 babies died and an unknown proportion of those born alive were left with one form or another of brain dysfunction during the same period.