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Last broadcast on Sun, 6 Jun 2010, 17:00 on BBC Radio 4 (FM only) (see all broadcasts).
Synopsis
The UK has some of the highest rates of stillbirths and early neonatal deaths in Europe.
There have been calls for improved care in hospital labour wards and an increase in research efforts to discover why so many apparently perfectly normal babies die.
However there is growing concern that in some hospitals, these deaths are not being properly investigated. Parents report difficulties in finding out full details of what went wrong. Shortages of specialist pathologists have meant that crucial post-mortem examinations are never carried out. And the inquest system is patchy when it comes to discovering the cause of a new born baby's death.
Ann Alexander investigates.
Producer: Ian Muir-Cochrane.
SHIPMAN CORONER: ALL BABY DEATHS MUST BE PROBED
Read File on 4 reporter Ann Alexander's article for the BBC News website, in which a leading coroner calls for changes in how neonatal deaths are investigated.
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READ THE PROGRAMME TRANSCRIPT
Read the transcript of Ann Alexander's report for File on 4, investigating new calls for changes in the way neonatal deaths are investigated.
Broadcasts
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Tue 1 Jun 201020:00
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Sun 6 Jun 201017:00
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