Doctors are calling for more research into the impact maternal smoking and obesity have on infant mortality.

It follows publication of the first national audit into the deaths of babies in the weeks before or after birth.

The clinical research from the Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology at UCC found that Ireland's perinatal mortality rate compares favourably with other countries.

In 2011, there were 491 perinatal deaths - arising from more than 74,000 births.

The data from the country's 20 maternity units shows that a major congenital anomaly was the most common cause of death.

Paul Corcoran is senior lecturer at the Department of Obstetrics in UCC:

But, he maintains there is still obvious room for improvement: