§ Mrs. Chalkerasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what was the perinatal mortality rate in England and in Sweden in the last year for which figures are available; and what action he is taking to reduce the English to the Swedish figure.
§ Mr. MoyleThe rates are as follows:
Stillbirths and deaths under one week of age: per 1,000 total births England Sweden 1975 19.3 11.3 1976 provisional) 17.5 not available My Department encourages mothers to have their babies in hospitals where the full range of modern obstetric and paediatric facilities will be available to safeguard mother and baby alike. Continuing ante-natal care from an early stage can do much to identify the mother who may have a child at risk and enable appropriate action to be taken.
Last summer my Department issued a circular to health authorities asking them to review their facilities for neonatal care, and drawing attention to the relatively high infant mortality rate in England and Wales. The Consultative Document on Priorities for the Health and Personal Social Services in England, issued last spring, emphasised the need to improve facilities for the special care of newborn babies, where these are currently inadequate, as a high priority.
301WDetails of studies and research projects which are being sponsored in the fields of infant mortality and morbidity, aimed at identifying factors that will result in a reduction of the rates, were given in my reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Eccles (Mr. Carter-Jones) on 27th Octobr 1976—[Vol. 918, c. 293–5.]
A working group of the Children's Research Liaison Group is studying priorities for further research aimed at reducing perinatal mortality and morbidity.