Emerging ideas to better understand and prevent stillbirths

Excerpt

It is estimated that over 3.6 million babies are stillborn each year [1]. Although the majority of these occur in low-income countries, stillbirth continues to place a significant burden on maternity services in high-income settings where approximately 1 in 200 infants born after 24 weeks gestation is stillborn [1]. Despite advances in ultrasound detection of lethal fetal anomalies and widespread access to antenatal care, the stillbirth rate in many high-income countries has not decreased in over two decades. Stillbirth remains an enigma, in part due to lack of research investigation, but also due to a failure to accurately identify causes and understand how they lead to stillbirth. Recent meta-analyses resulting from international collaborations have highlighted the need to expand the understanding of stillbirth. …