Quality of investigations into unexpected deaths of infants and young children in England after implementation of national child death review procedures in 2008: a retrospective assessment.

Objectives: In 2008, new statutory national procedures for responding to unexpected child deaths were introduced throughout England. There has, to date, been no national audit of these procedures.

Study Design: Families bereaved by the unexpected death of a child under 4 years of age since 2008 were invited to participate.

Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) and the routine otoacoustic emission infant hearing screening test: an epidemiological retrospective case-control study.

Objectives: To investigate whether decreased otoacoustic emission (OAE) signal recordings in the right ear are associated with an increased risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) and to monitor any temporal changes in risk factors.

Design: Retrospective case-control study.

Setting: Telephone interviews with families recruited in England between July 2016 and October 2017 who experienced the unexpected death of a child <4 years old since 2008 and control families recruited from maternity wards in Bristol and Birmingham.

Pulse oximetry screening for critical congenital heart disease: a comparative study of cohorts over 11 years.

Pulse oximetry (POS) has been proposed as a screening tool for CCHD in newborn. The aim was to identify the effect of POS on the rate of diagnosis after discharge and survival to one year in cases with CCHD. All cases of CCHD from three tertiary level hospitals in the Northern region of UK between 1st January 2001 and 31st December 2011 were identified from the Northern Congenital Abnormality Survey (NorCAS).

"You have to keep your nerve on a DMC." Challenges for Data Monitoring Committees in neonatal intensive care trials: Qualitative accounts from the BRACELET Study.

Background: Data Monitoring Committees (DMCs) are essential to the good conduct of many trials. Typically they comprise a small expert group which monitors safety, efficacy, progress and early outcome data as trials recruit. DMCs can recommend protocol revisions and early stopping of a trial.

Fifteen-minute consultation: Supporting colleagues through a serious incident or complaint.

Being involved in a complaint or serious incident can be a huge stress for a doctor, whether a trainee or consultant. When affected, it is important to be able to look for the support of a colleague or a more senior person, and just as importantly, those not directly involved need to know what to do to provide support. In this piece I consider what 'support' really means, I provide some tips on what to do and what not to do, and I consider how incidents and complaints can need different approaches.

Fifteen-minute consultation: Asking questions: the puzzles and problems model.

People are full of useful advice, especially when you make the transition to the senior doctor grade. We present a very helpful model we have used over some time to aid us when we have issues.

Outcomes of infants with a birthweight less than or equal to 500 g in Northern England: 15 years experience.

Aim: We aimed to evaluate mortality and short-term neonatal morbidity of babies born ≤500 g cared for in the Northern Neonatal Network over a 15-year period.

Method: Using regional databases, we identified all live-born babies ≥22 weeks gestation and ≤500 g, in North East England and North Cumbria from 1998 to 2012. We quantified major neonatal morbidities and survival to one year.

Recent advances in the management of infants born <1000 g.

In this review, we survey some significant advances in the medical care of babies <1000 g and we highlight the development of care pathways that ensure optimal antenatal care, which is a prerequisite for good neonatal outcomes. We also suggest that the long overdue development of family integrated care will in the end prove at least as important as the recent medical advances.

Bed-sharing by breastfeeding mothers: who bed-shares and what is the relationship with breastfeeding duration?

Aim: To explore the link between breastfeeding duration and bed-sharing frequency among women reporting a prenatal intention to breastfeed.

Methods: About 870 participants in a randomised breastfeeding trial, recruited at mid-pregnancy, provided weekly snapshots of breastfeeding and bed-sharing behaviour for 26 weeks following birth. Strength of prenatal breastfeeding intent was recorded at recruitment using Likert-type scales.

Patterns of child death in England and Wales.

In the past century, child mortality has fallen to very low rates in all developed countries. However, rates between and within countries vary widely, and factors can be identified that could be modified to reduce the risk of future deaths. An understanding of the nature and patterns of child death and of the factors contributing to child deaths is essential to drive preventive initiatives.

Death, bereavement and randomised controlled trials (BRACELET): a methodological study of policy and practice in neonatal and paediatric intensive care trials.

Background: Researchers have seldom included bereaved parents in studies of participants' views of randomised controlled trials (RCTs); hence our understanding of the impact of trials is based on skewed and incomplete samples. Little is known about parental experiences of the death of a child subsequent to their enrolment in a trial or of provision made for this experience by clinicians and trial teams. The Bereavement and RAndomised ControlLEd Trials (BRACELET) study was funded to consider bereavement in the context of paediatric intensive care (PIC) and neonatal intensive care (NIC) trials.

The changing profile of infant mortality from bacterial, viral and fungal infection over two decades.

Aim: Infection is an important cause of neonatal and infant mortality. We evaluated changes in infant deaths from infections from 1988 to 2008 in the North of England.

Methods: We interrogated a population-based survey and reviewed infant deaths from infection.

Viral infections: contributions to late fetal death, stillbirth, and infant death.

Objective: To determine the role of viral infections in causing fetal and infant death.

Study Design: We assessed a well-validated population database of fetal (≥20 weeks gestation) and infant death for infective deaths and deaths from viruses over a 21-year period (1988-2008). We analyzed by specific viral cause, timing (late fetal loss [20-23 weeks], stillbirth [≥24 weeks], neonatal death [0-27 days], and post-neonatal infant death [28-364 days]) and across time.

Utility of genetic testing in suspected familial cranial diabetes insipidus.

Aim: Differentiating familial cranial diabetes insipidus (CDI) from primary polydipsia can be difficult. We report the diagnostic utility of genetic testing as a means of confirming or excluding this diagnosis.

Patient And Methods: The index case presented at 3 months with polydipsia.

The North of England Survey of Twin and Multiple Pregnancy.

The population-based Northern Survey of Twin and Multiple Pregnancy (NorSTAMP, formerly the Multiple Pregnancy Register) has collected data since 1998 on all multiple pregnancies in North of England (UK) from the earliest point of ascertainment in pregnancy. This paper updates recent developments to the NorSTAMP and presents some early mortality data from the first 10 years of data collection (1998-2007). Since 2005, mothers have been asked to give explicit consent for their identifiable data to be held by the survey, in line with changing guidance and legal frameworks for identifiable data.

Use of interactive telephone technology for longitudinal data collection in a large trial.

We report here on the use of interactive telephone technology for collecting longitudinal data in a large randomized non-blinded parallel trial. Data were primarily collected via an automated interactive telephone system which enabled data to be downloaded by researchers periodically via a secure website. Alternative methods were used by some participants to provide data; here we analyze the demographic profiles of groups by preferred data provision, and consider the cost-effectiveness and efficiency of such a system.

Randomised trial of sidecar crib use on breastfeeding duration (NECOT).

Objective: To determine whether the use of sidecar cribs on the postnatal ward affects breastfeeding duration.

Design: A randomised non-blinded parallel trial comparing sidecar cribs with standalone cots.

Setting: Postnatal wards of the Royal Victoria Infirmary, Newcastle upon Tyne.