Source: PMMRC, Tenth Annual Report, 2016, p85, Table 1.52 Improving rates of consent is desirable as a post-mortem is a valuable mechanism to identify accurate cause of death, identify disorders with implications for counselling and monitoring of future pregnancies, and assist in the grieving process by enhancing parental understanding of events surrounding the death. PMMRC reported that, in 2014, of the 255 post-mortems completed there was data on the usefulness of the post-mortem available for 212 (83%) of cases. The data showed that in: 123 cases (58%) the post-mortem confirmed the clinical diagnosis 32 cases (15%) the post-mortem changed the diagnosis and resulted in altered counselling to parents for future pregnancies 35 cases (17%) additional information was gained but did not change the diagnosis 22 cases (10%) the post-mortem was inconclusive. Estimating the number of post-mortems required to achieve a goal depends on the number ‘rate’ of birth rates and the number and rate of perinatal deaths, which are expected to remain relatively stable in the short term. Achieving the rate will depend upon improving rates of family or whānau consent. Birth rates Statistics New Zealand reports on live births in New Zealand, and reported that in 2015 live births increased, to 61,038. This followed declining in the preceding four years. Statistics New Zealand has modelled birth rates between 2016 and 2033, factoring in projected fertility rates and migration. Based on their conclusions, birth rates are projected to increase between 2016 and 2026, then flatten before gradually reducing to 2033. The expectation is that in the five years between 2016 and 2021, the number of live births will increase by an average of 600 per annum. Figure 4: Live birth rates Source: Statistics New Zealand, October 2015 for financial years ending June 2016 - 2033 Post-mortem rates A post-mortem is one of three potential strategies identified as optimal investigation of death, and remains the gold standard investigation. The other types of investigation include karyotype to confirm chromosomal abnormality or clinical examination/investigations (including MRI). Perinatal post-mortem has utility in confirming clinical diagnosis, contributing to new information about the cause of death and associated factors. The information is important as it may: accurately identify cause of death and exclude some causes of death
Source: PMMRC, Tenth Annual Report, 2016, p85, Table 1.52 Improving rates of consent is desirable as a post-mortem is a valuable mechanism to identify accurate cause of death, identify disorders with implications for counselling and monitoring of future pregnancies, and assist in the grieving process by enhancing parental understanding of events surrounding the death. PMMRC reported that, in 2014, of the 255 post-mortems completed there was data on the usefulness of the post-mortem available for 212 (83%) of cases. The data showed that in: 123 cases (58%) the post-mortem confirmed the clinical diagnosis 32 cases (15%) the post-mortem changed the diagnosis and resulted in altered counselling to parents for future pregnancies 35 cases (17%) additional information was gained but did not change the diagnosis 22 cases (10%) the post-mortem was inconclusive. Estimating the number of post-mortems required to achieve a goal ‘rate’ depends on the number of birth rates and the number and rate of perinatal deaths, which are expected to remain relatively stable in the short term. Achieving the rate will depend upon improving rates of family or whānau consent. Birth rates Statistics New Zealand reports on live births in New Zealand, and reported that in 2015 live births increased, to 61,038. This followed declining in the preceding four years. Statistics New Zealand has modelled birth rates between 2016 and 2033, factoring in projected fertility rates and migration. Based on their conclusions, birth rates are projected to increase between 2016 and 2026, then flatten before gradually reducing to 2033. The expectation is that in the five years between 2016 and 2021, the number of live births will increase by an average of 600 per annum. Figure 4: Live birth rates Source: Statistics New Zealand, October 2015 for financial years ending June 2016 - 2033 Post-mortem rates A post-mortem is one of three potential strategies identified as optimal investigation of death, and remains the gold standard investigation. The other types of investigation include karyotype to confirm chromosomal abnormality or clinical examination/investigations (including MRI). Perinatal post-mortem has utility in confirming clinical diagnosis, contributing to new information about the cause of death and associated factors. The information is important as it may: accurately identify cause of death and exclude some causes of death
service_model_for_national_perinatal_pathology_services_-_final_v1_0.docx