One Stillbirth Occurs Every 16 Seconds, 2 Million Every Year

By Nsunjo Erica

According to the first-ever joint stillbirth estimates released by UNICEF, WHO, the World Bank Group, and the Population Division of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, almost 2 million babies are stillborn every year, 1 every 16 seconds.

A stillbirth is defined in the report as a baby born with no signs of life at 28 weeks of pregnancy or more. The report indicates that the vast majority of stillbirths, 84 percent, occur in low and lower-middle-income countries, globally.

According to the report, in 2019, 3 in 4 stillbirths occurred in sub-Saharan Africa or Southern Asia. Around half of the stillbirths in sub-Saharan Africa and Central and Southern Asia occur during labor, compared to 6 percent in Europe, Northern America, Australia, and New Zealand.

“Every 16 seconds, a mother somewhere will suffer the unspeakable tragedy of stillbirth. Beyond the loss of life, the psychological and financial costs for women, families, and societies are severe and long-lasting. For many of these mothers, it simply didn’t have to be this way. A majority of stillbirths could have been prevented with high quality monitoring, proper antenatal care, and a skilled birth attendant.” said Henrietta Fore, UNICEF Executive Director.

“Losing a child at birth or during pregnancy is a devastating tragedy for a family, one that is often endured quietly, yet all too frequently, around the world,” Henrietta Fore, added.

The report warns that the COVID-19 pandemic could worsen the global number of stillbirths. A 50 percent reduction in health services due to the pandemic could cause nearly 200,000 additional stillbirths over a 12-month period in 117 low- and middle-income countries.

This corresponds to an increase in the number of stillbirths by 11.1 percent. According to modeling done for the report by researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 13 countries could see a 20 percent increase or more in the number of stillbirths over a 12-month period.

The report says that most stillbirths are due to poor quality of care during pregnancy and birth. Lack of investments in antenatal and intrapartum services and in strengthening the nursing and midwifery workforce are key challenges.

The report also notes that stillbirth is not only a challenge to poor countries but to all other countries as a whole. In 2019, 39 high-income countries had a higher number of stillbirths than neonatal deaths and 15 countries had a higher number of stillbirths than infant deaths.

In both low- and high-income settings, stillbirth rates are higher in rural areas than in urban areas. Socioeconomic status is also linked to a greater incidence of stillbirth. For example, in Nepal, women of minority castes had stillbirth rates between 40 to 60 percent higher than women from upper-class castes.

In the report, over 40 percent of stillbirths occur during labor, researchers say that this is a loss that could be avoided with access to a trained health worker at childbirth and timely emergency obstetric care.

Doctors should critically be vigilant during 8 important maternal health interventions such as C-section, malaria prevention, management of hypertension in pregnancy and syphilis detection and treatment, Coverage for assisted vaginal delivery to prevent stillbirths during labor.