NPEC Perinatal Mortality National Clinical Audit

Perinatal mortality is an important measure of obstetric and neonatal care. The World Health Organization defines perinatal mortality as the "number of stillbirths and deaths in the first week of life per 1,000 live births, with the perinatal period commencing at 22 completed weeks of gestation and ending seven completed days after birth”. 

Regular audit of perinatal mortality can identify modifiable risk factors which decrease the risk of perinatal death and also inform clinical practice. Over the past decades, the rate of perinatal mortality has decreased substantially in high-resource countries and has been partly attributed to the proliferation of regular perinatal mortality audits.

Thus, given the importance of such audits, the NPEC has provided an annual national assessment of perinatal mortality in Ireland (from a clinical viewpoint) since 2008.  It has done so with the guidance and collaboration of the NPEC Perinatal Mortality National Clinical Audit Group (that is, a specialist multidisciplinary group whose aim is to develop a comprehensive national audit system of perinatal mortality in Ireland). 

The NPEC uses the Perinatal Mortality National Clinical Audit Notification Form to collect its clinical audit data.  The form provides a robust framework for evaluating obstetric and neonatal practices.

Perinatal Mortality National Clinical Audit Form 2022

For further information on the Perinatal Mortality National Clinical Audit, please contact Edel Manning (e.manning@ucc.ie).