A Neglected Tragedy: The global burden of stillbirths

Overview

A stillbirth occurs every 16 seconds somewhere in the world. This means that every year, about 2 million babies are stillborn – a loss that reaches far beyond the loss of life. It has a traumatic long-lasting impact on women and their families around the world, who often endure profound psychological suffering as well as stigma from their communities, even in high-income countries. Perhaps even more tragically, the majority of these deaths could have been avoided with high-quality care antenatally and during birth. Over 40 per cent of all stillbirths occurred during labour – a loss that could be prevented with improved monitoring and access to emergency obstetric care when required.