Tasmanian Council of Obstetric and Paediatric Mortality and Morbidity (TAS PMC)
Stillbirth Clinical Review Forms, Neonatal Death Clinical Review forms are completed by the doctor responsible for the mother’s care. The Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages.
The TAS PMC or Council of Obstetric and Paediatric Mortality and Morbidity (COPMM) was established under the Perinatal Registry Act 1994. The COPMM reviews all perinatal deaths.
Any birth that is at least 20 weeks gestation, or where the gestation is unknown, at least 400 grams birthweight. The COPMM reviews perinatal deaths which are defined as a death fulfilling the definition of either a stillbirth or neonatal death. Stillbirth is a fetal death prior to the complete expulsion or extraction from its mother of a product of conception of 20 or more completed weeks gestation or 400 grams or more birth weight; the death is indicated by the fact that after such separation the fetus does not breathe or show any other evidence of life, such as beating of the heart, pulsation of the umbilical cord, or definite movement of voluntary muscles. Neonatal death is death occurring within 28 days of birth in an infant whose birth weight was at least 400 grams, or if the weight was not known, an infant born after at least 20 weeks of gestation.
The implementation of the ObstetrixTas electronic perinatal database from 2010 may have impacted on the accuracy of the data contained in the TAS PDC. Some data collected has come from the existing paper notification form, while some data has come directly from the electronic system. The Data Management Services unit have reviewed the data received during this reference period and corrected any errors caused by the merged data.
The annual report of the Council of Obstetric and Paediatric Mortality and Morbidity is available in hard copy and online at the Tasmanian Department of Health. The Annual Report includes the reports submitted by each subcommittee detailing relevant key trends arising during the year and recommendations based upon committee investigations and findings. Trends in reported perinatal and maternal statistics have been reported in Tasmania and compared with the latest available national findings. Requests for data can be made to the data custodian.
Deaths are classified according to the Perinatal Society of Australia and New Zealand - Perinatal Death Classification (PSANZ-PDC) and the Perinatal Society of Australia and New Zealand - Neonatal Death Classification (PSANZ-NDC).