Neonatal collapse

In November we published a paper on early neonatal sudden unexpected deaths1 that made reference to the anticipated publication of the British Paediatric Survey Unit (BPSU) study on unexpected collapses in neonates. We now have this report. Becher et al present the BPSU data, accompanied by both an editorial and a letter. Intriguingly, the size of the birth cohorts in each paper was very similar (828 648 and 858 466, respectively), the main differences being that Leow collated data from a relatively small area over 25 years, while Becher used the whole of the UK and Eire over 13 months; and Becher's data were on the first 12 h while Leow looked at the first week. These rare but important events need careful investigation as detailed in the guidance from the British Association for Perinatal Medicine in March 2011: ‘Guidelines for the Investigation of Newborn Infants who suffer a Sudden and Unexpected Postnatal Collapse In the First Week of …