ONE of Britain’s medical colleges is set to change its guidelines on a condition that threatens the lives of newborn babies, after it was highlighted last week by The Sunday Times.

Pregnant women at risk of vasa praevia will now be screened during routine ultrasound scans at 20 weeks. Previously doctors have avoided conducting the test because of the cost involved in caring for expectant mothers found with the condition.

Nick and Sharon Partridge, from Burton, Staffordshire, had a daughter, Lauren, who died of the condition in 2004. Nick Partridge, a management consultant, said: “We are absolutely delighted the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists [RCOG] has decided to change the guidelines. They are seen as a gold standard world-wide, so this will have a huge effect.”

According to official figures, vasa praevia kills at least one baby in every 2,500 — more than 300 a year. It occurs when blood vessels from the placenta or umbilical cord block the birth canal and rupture as the waters break. Undiagnosed, it is fatal in 95% of cases, but almost every baby survives if it is picked up by ultrasound scanning.

Yinka Oyelese, a leading American specialist from Robert Wood Johnson University hospital, New Jersey, said: “I have never come across another condition where early diagnosis makes such a dramatic difference."

The RCOG said the guidelines would be published by next year.

Daren and Natalie Samat, from Amersham, Buckinghamshire, began campaigning for the change in the guidelines because their son Henry died 13 days after his birth in November 2005. They were told it was too expensive to screen for vasa praevia. Mothers need to be closely monitored, often spending weeks in hospital before elective caesareans.

Daren Samat said: “We were devastated to discover that the problem could have been picked up in a scan. Henry was perfect in every other way, but senior consultants told us that cost issues in the NHS meant they didn’t scan for it.”

The Sunday Times has been contacted by many parents whose children were victims of the condition. Lesley Appleyard, from Snaith, East Yorkshire, said she was told her son Bailey would have died if his caesarean delivery had been delayed by even a minute. “When I came round, they said, ‘You’ve got a little boy’, and I just asked, is he dead?” she said.

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