Known as MBRRACE-UK, this outcome review programme’s latest report focuses on UK perinatal deaths of babies born in 2024, finding that rates of baby death continued to decrease in that year.
Since MBRRACE-UK began, the number of babies who died shortly before, during, or soon after birth has been falling
Stillbirth, neonatal mortality and extended perinatal mortality rates were lower in England and for the UK as a whole, compared with 2023. In 2024, the UK extended perinatal mortality rate was 4.77 baby deaths for every 1,000 births, which is 21% lower than in 2013.
However, inequalities linked to deprivation, ethnicity and prematurity remain. Mortality rates continue to be higher in the most deprived areas, and babies of Black and Asian ethnicity continue to experience higher mortality rates than babies of White ethnicity. The report also highlights the relationship between ethnicity, deprivation and congenital anomalies, with some ethnic groups being more likely to live in the most deprived areas and congenital anomalies contributing disproportionately to neonatal mortality. But there are some small encouraging shifts, such as the fact that neonatal mortality for the most deprived group fell by 14%, while the gap between most and least deprived areas narrowed slightly after years of widening.
These findings show that progress is being made in reducing baby deaths, but there is still important work to do – especially to tackle the gaps linked to deprivation, ethnicity, and how early in pregnancy a baby is born.
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