One stillbirth occurs every 16 seconds: Joint UN report
Almost 2 million babies are stillborn yearly or 1 every 16 seconds, according to a fresh joint report.
A stillbirth is defined in the report as a baby born without signs of life at 28 weeks of pregnancy or more.
Here is the first-ever joint stillbirth estimates released by Unicef, the World Health Organization (WHO), the World Bank Group and the Population Division of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs on Thursda from NY and Geneva, reports UNB.
The vast majority of stillbirths, 84 percent, occur in low- and lower-middle-income countries, based on the new report, 'A Neglected Tragedy: The Global Burden of Stillbirths'.
In 2019, 3 in 4 stillbirths occurred in sub-Saharan Africa or Southern Asia.
"Losing a child at birth or during pregnancy is a devastating tragedy for a family, one that's often endured quietly, yet all too frequently, all over the world," said Henrietta Fore, Unicef Executive Director.
Every 16 seconds, she said, a mother somewhere are affected the unspeakable tragedy of stillbirth.
"Beyond the increased loss of life, the psychological and financial charges for women, families and societies are extreme and long lasting. For most of these mothers, it simply didn't have to be this way. Most stillbirths might have been prevented with top quality monitoring, proper antenatal care and a skilled birth attendant."
The report warns that the Covid-19 pandemic could worsen the global number of stillbirths.
A 50 percent decrease in health services due to the pandemic could cause practically 200,000 additional stillbirths over a 12-month period in 117 low- and middle-income countries.
This corresponds to an increase in the quantity 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 visit a 20 percent increase or more in the amount of stillbirths over a 12-month period.
Most stillbirths are because of low quality of care during pregnancy and birth.
Lack of investments in antenatal and intrapartum services and in strengthening the nursing and midwifery workforce are fundamental challenges, the report says.
Over 40 percent of stillbirths occur during labour-a loss that could be avoided with access to a trained health worker at childbirth and timely emergency obstetric care.
Around half of stillbirths in sub-Saharan Africa and Central and Southern Asia occur during labour, in comparison to 6 percent in Europe, Northern America, Australia and New Zealand.
Even prior to the pandemic caused critical disruptions in health services, few women in low- and middle-income countries received timely and high-quality care to avoid stillbirths.
Half of the 117 countries analysed in the report have coveragethat ranges from a low of significantly less than 2 percent to a high of only 50 percent for 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 - a crucial intervention for preventing stillbirths during labour - is estimated to attain not even half of women that are pregnant who need it.
Subsequently, despite advances in health services to avoid or treat causes of child death, progress in lowering the stillbirth rate has been slow.
From 2000 to 2019, the gross annual rate of reduction in the stillbirth rate was just 2.3 per cent, compared to a 2.9 percent reduction in neonatal mortality, and 4.3 percent in mortality among children aged 1-59 months.
Progress, however, can be done with sound policy, programmes and investment.
"Welcoming a baby into the world should be a period of great joy, but every day a large number of parents experience unbearable sadness because their babies remain born," said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General.
He said the tragedy of stillbirth shows how essential it is to reinforce and keep maintaining essential health services, and how critical it is to improve investment in nurses and midwives.
The report also notes that stillbirth isn't only a challenge for poor countries.
In 2019, 39 high-income countries had a higher number of stillbirths than neonatal deaths and 15 countries had an increased number of stillbirths than infant deaths.
A mother's level of education is among the greatest drivers of inequity in high-income countries.
In both low- and high-income settings, stillbirth rates are higher in rural areas than in cities.
Socioeconomic status is also associated with greater incidence of stillbirth.
For instance, in Nepal, women of minority castes had stillbirth rates between 40 to 60 % greater than women from upper-class castes.
Ethnic minorities in high-income countries, in particular, may lack usage of enough quality healthcare.
The report cites that Inuit populations in Canada, for instance, have been observed to have stillbirth rates nearly three times higher than the rest of Canada, and African American women in america of America have almost twice the risk of stillbirth in comparison to white women.
"Covid-19 has triggered a devastating secondary health crisis for women, children and adolescents because of disruptions in life-saving health services," said Muhammad Ali Pate, Global Director for Health, Nutrition and Population at the World Bank and Director of the Global Financing Facility for Women, Children and Adolescents.
"Women that are pregnant need continued usage of quality care, throughout their pregnancy and during childbirth. We're supporting countries in strengthening their health systems to prevent stillbirths and ensure that every pregnant woman can access quality healthcare services."
