Baby deaths at highest level in Northland

A new report reveals Northland has the highest percentage of babies to die before or shortly after birth, followed by Waikato, Hutt Valley and Nelson-Marlborough.

The Perinatal and Maternal Mortality Review Committee report covers perinatal deaths - those affecting babies between 20 weeks of gestation and in the first 28 days of life - in the second half of 2006 and maternal deaths for the entire year.

It found about one in 100 babies died perinatally and babies born to Maori and Pacific women, and all women under the age of 20, had higher rates of perinatal mortality.

Of the 1043 babies born in Northland, 18 died. In the Waikato, 39 babies died from 2532 births, 15 from 993 in the Hutt Valley and 12 from 756 in Nelson-Marlborough region.

No spokesman for the Northland District Health Board was available.

Jan Adams, chief operating officer of Health Waikato - the provider arm of the Waikato DHB - had not seen the report but said the organisation was always looking for ways to improve outcomes for "fragile babies".

The West Coast had the highest percentage - 1.9 - but this equated to three deaths from 151 births.

This week Auckland couple Colleen Shaw and Tom Fox marked the second anniversary of their daughter Cate being stillborn at 24 weeks.

The IT administrator was admitted to hospital after her waters broke 23 weeks and three days into her pregnancy. Four days later the baby's heartbeat could not be found.

A post-mortem examination found Colleen had a strep B infection, but doctors were not sure if that caused her waters to break early.

"We were just completely in a state of shock that she had died," she said. "The thing I remember most is being quite numb and wondering how life could go back to normal."

Shaw, now 40, and her partner Fox, 34, went on to have another baby, a son, Caleb, now seven months old. Shaw also has an adult son from a previous relationship.

Shaw said no amount of assistance could take away the pain.

"I did receive enough support but it was a very lonely process. It doesn't matter how much support families or organisations give, it's still an intensely lonely process."