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Kara Dent, Perinatal Institute, October
2000
This Perinatal
Forum concentrated on four obstetric emergencies:
Together, these emergencies account for less than
4% of all deliveries and are a comparatively infrequent
cause of perinatal mortality in the West
Midlands. However, CESDI reports have highlighted
their importance because many of these deaths are avoidable.
For example, shoulder dystocia was directly associated
with 6.4% of all intrapartum deaths, and two thirds
of these cases were judged to have avoidable factors
in their management. Also, these cases give rise to
many instances of litigation. Currently, the NHS Litigation
authority has 144 cases of shoulder dystocia on their
books which are in total estimated to cost the NHS £ 41.5
million (figures taken from REALISE)
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