Babies born outside office hours more likely to die

Babies born in the evenings and weekends are at a higher risk of death according to new medical research.

A study published on the British Medical Journal website warns that babies born outside of the 9am until 5pm Monday to Friday working week were more likely to die due to a lack of oxygen.

The research led by Professor Gordon Smith at the University of Cambridge, analysed more than one million births and infant deaths in Scotland between the years 1985 and 2004.

Findings showed that of 539 neonatal deaths, the risk of a baby dying during the working week was 4.2 for every 10,000 live births compared to 5.6 outside of office hours.

A shortage of senior members of staff as well as availability of obstetric operating theatres were some of the likely reasons identified by the researchers.