MBRRACE-UK 'Saving Lives, Improving Mothers' Care' Virtual Conference 2025

11 Sep 2025

Edel Manning, representing MDE Ireland, was invited to speak at this year’s  EMBRRACE -UK 'Saving Lives, Improving Mothers' Care' virtual conference 2025, reflecting her contributions and expertise in maternal and perinatal health.

The conference provides a forum for clinicians, researchers, and policymakers to share findings from maternal mortality surveillance, confidential enquiries, and national audits across the UK and Ireland.

The 2025 programme included presentations on maternal deaths, morbidity, mental health, hypertensive and cardiac conditions, as well as discussions on policy, practice, and addressing inequalities in care.

Key Messages from MDE Ireland

During her presentation, Edel Manning shared findings from Data Brief No. 8: Maternal Mortality in Ireland 2021–2023:

• The maternal mortality rate (MMR) in Ireland for 2021–2023 was 9.0 per 100,000 maternities.

• Over 15 years of maternal death enquiry reporting, fluctuations in MMR were observed but did not reach statistical significance.

• The presentation emphasized the importance of confidential enquiry, data-driven insights, and cross-border learning in improving maternal care outcomes.

MDE Ireland’s findings highlight ongoing efforts to identify preventable factors, enhance clinical practice, and strengthen maternity services nationally and internationally.

Conference Highlights

• The conference explored maternal deaths in the UK and Ireland, the use of early warning systems, and innovations in real-time perinatal data monitoring.

• Discussions focused on improving care for women experiencing multiple disadvantages, including those facing social, economic, or health inequalities, and emphasized the importance of multi-agency collaboration and robust perinatal mental health support.

• The event explored the role of general practice and community care in supporting maternity services, particularly in the prevention and management of hypertensive disorders and the identification of cardiovascular risks during pregnancy.

• Policy and practice sessions shared evidence-based strategies and lessons from across the devolved nations, highlighting actions that can reduce maternal mortality and strengthen maternity care systems.

MDE Ireland’s participation at the MBRRACE‑UK 2025 conference highlights our commitment to evidence-based maternal healthcare, international collaboration, and continuous improvement in maternity services.

About Edel Manning

RGN, RM, HDip Clinical Practice, HDip Diagnostic Imaging in Ultrasound of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, MSc Health Care Ethics and Law.

Edel is the Project Manager for two NPEC national clinical audits of maternity services in Ireland:

• Perinatal Mortality (PM)
• Severe Maternal Morbidity (SMM).

As co-ordinator of MDE Ireland, Edel supervises the confidential enquiry process and ensures that its findings inform policies and practices to strengthen maternity services.