TY - JOUR
T1 - Stillbirths
T2 - Why they matter
AU - Frøen, J. Frederik
AU - Cacciatore, Joanne
AU - McClure, Elizabeth M.
AU - Kuti, Oluwafemi
AU - Jokhio, Abdul Hakeem
AU - Islam, Monir
AU - Shiffman, Jeremy
N1 - Funding Information:
We thank all parents and colleagues for their participation in the surveys, the many organisations for assisting us in recruiting participants, and Claudia Ravaldi and Alfredo Vannacci from CiaoLapo for translation and recruitment for the parental survey in Italy. We thank the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for a grant to support this work to the International Stillbirth Alliance administered by the Mater Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, Australia. Additionally, we thank the International Stillbirth Alliance and the Norwegian Institute of Public Health for seed funding to support meetings of the steering committee. We thank Laura Koopmans, Dominique Rossouw, and Madeleine Elder for technical assistance in the development of the report. The views expressed in this article do not necessarily represent the decisions, policy, or views of the authors' affiliations.
PY - 2011
Y1 - 2011
N2 - In this first paper of The Lancet's Stillbirths Series we explore the present status of stillbirths in the world - from global health policy to a survey of community perceptions in 135 countries. Our findings highlight the need for a strong call for action. In times of global focus on motherhood, the mother's own aspiration of a liveborn baby is not recognised on the world's health agenda. Millions of deaths are not counted; stillbirths are not in the Global Burden of Disease, nor in disability-adjusted life-years lost, and they are not part of the UN Millennium Development Goals. The grief of mothers might be aggravated by social stigma, blame, and marginalisation in regions where most deaths occur. Most stillborn babies are disposed of without any recognition or ritual, such as naming, funeral rites, or the mother holding or dressing the baby. Beliefs in the mother's sins and evil spirits as causes of stillbirth are rife, and stillbirth is widely believed to be a natural selection of babies never meant to live. Stillbirth prevention is closely linked with prevention of maternal and neonatal deaths. Knowledge of causes and feasible solutions for prevention is key to health professionals' priorities, to which this Stillbirths Series paper aims to contribute.
AB - In this first paper of The Lancet's Stillbirths Series we explore the present status of stillbirths in the world - from global health policy to a survey of community perceptions in 135 countries. Our findings highlight the need for a strong call for action. In times of global focus on motherhood, the mother's own aspiration of a liveborn baby is not recognised on the world's health agenda. Millions of deaths are not counted; stillbirths are not in the Global Burden of Disease, nor in disability-adjusted life-years lost, and they are not part of the UN Millennium Development Goals. The grief of mothers might be aggravated by social stigma, blame, and marginalisation in regions where most deaths occur. Most stillborn babies are disposed of without any recognition or ritual, such as naming, funeral rites, or the mother holding or dressing the baby. Beliefs in the mother's sins and evil spirits as causes of stillbirth are rife, and stillbirth is widely believed to be a natural selection of babies never meant to live. Stillbirth prevention is closely linked with prevention of maternal and neonatal deaths. Knowledge of causes and feasible solutions for prevention is key to health professionals' priorities, to which this Stillbirths Series paper aims to contribute.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=79954576610&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=79954576610&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/S0140-6736(10)62232-5
DO - 10.1016/S0140-6736(10)62232-5
M3 - Review article
C2 - 21496915
AN - SCOPUS:79954576610
VL - 377
SP - 1353
EP - 1366
JO - The Lancet
JF - The Lancet
SN - 0140-6736
IS - 9774
ER -