A leading obstetrician is calling for a national inquiry into maternity care after new data revealed the perinatal death rate in Queensland had jumped by almost 50% over four years.

Associate Professor Gino Pecoraro said a recent Productivity Commission report on government services showed that maternity services across the state were still in “crisis mode”.

Queensland recorded 720 perinatal deaths — 526 stillbirths and 194 deaths within 28 days of delivery — in 2022, at a rate of 11.5 perinatal deaths per 1000 births.

This represents a 47% increase from the 2018 mortality of 7.8 perinatal deaths per 1000 births.