The UMPIRE Study
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Understanding Multidisciplinary approaches and Parental Input in perinatal mortality REview
IRAS ID
257872
Contact name
Joanne R W Dickens
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Leicester
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
The UMPIRE Study: How is the implementation of the Perinatal Mortality Review Tool (PMRT) influencing a multidisciplinary approach to perinatal mortality review and engagement with bereaved parents?
When a baby dies in hospital around the time of birth, the hospital carries out a review to try to understand what happened. Midwives, doctors who specialise in maternity care (obstetricians), doctors who specialise in the care of newborn babies (neonatologists) and any other relevant healthcare staff who are part of what is known as the multidisciplinary team, carry out the review. The review aims to understand what happened and why the baby died. Recent research has shown, however, that some parents are unaware that a review may be taking place after their baby has died and that their views or questions about care are often not considered in the review. The same research also showed that the quality of reviews varies from one hospital unit to another.
The Perinatal Mortality Review Tool or ‘PMRT’ was introduced in England at the beginning of 2018 to help hospitals improve how baby deaths are reviewed and to ensure that parents are supported in understanding how they can contribute to the review.
This study aims to explore how the introduction of the PMRT affects whether the expertise of different healthcare professionals and the views of bereaved parents are included in the review. Understanding more about this subject could inform professional guidelines around improved multidisciplinary review and how to better support bereaved parents.
The study will take place in a small number of NHS Trusts in England over two years and will involve the researcher observing perinatal mortality review meetings in each Trust to explore how the reviews are carried out and who is involved. This will be followed by interviews with healthcare professionals who are part of the review team and bereaved parents who wish to take part in the study, so that their experiences of the review process can be explored.LAY SUMMARY OF STUDY RESULTS:
Lay summary of study results: This qualitative ethnographic study exploring the implementation of the Perinatal Mortality Review Tool (PMRT) as the national standardised process for reviewing the death of a baby in England was conducted by a Doctoral student who is currently in the writing up phase.
Preliminary, unpublished results demonstrate findings around how the PMRT has been implemented within local hospitals; the contribution of professional and lay knowledge within the perinatal mortality review process; and the tool as a sociotechnical process.
Once the Thesis is published, a full plain English summary will be provided; as well as recommendations for practice and bereaved parents disseminated.REC name
West Midlands - Coventry & Warwickshire Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
19/WM/0285
Date of REC Opinion
8 Oct 2019
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion