Study says 2m babies stillborn every year
Source: Agencies |
April 15, 2011, Friday
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MORE than 2 million babies are stillborn every year worldwide and about half could be saved if their mothers had better medical care, according to research estimates published yesterday in the medical journal Lancet.
While the vast majority of stillbirths happen in the developing world, the rates in countries including Britain, France and the United States have not dropped to the degree that many experts had expected, as rising obesity levels among pregnant women increase the risk.
Experts say providing better obstetric care, treating conditions like syphilis, high blood pressure and diabetes in mothers, among other strategies, could save more than 1 million infants every year.
"It's a scandal there are so many stillbirths that can be prevented," said Joy Lawn, director of global evidence and policy at Save the Children in South Africa, who led the Lancet series.
In developing countries, most stillbirths are caused by delivery complications, maternal infections in pregnancy, fetal growth problems and congenital abnormalities.
In developed countries, the reasons are often unclear why stillbirths occur, and surveillance and autopsy data are patchy.
But the researchers' estimates have a wide margin of error: the numbers range between 2.1 million to 3.8 million stillbirths a year. Those figures are based on reported statistics from 33 countries, largely in the West. For the other 160 countries, where the most stillbirths occur, scientists relied on modeled estimates.
Finland and Singapore had the lowest stillbirth rates worldwide - two per 1,000 births - while Nigeria and Pakistan were at the bottom of the list, with 42 and 47 stillbirths, respectively, per 1,000 births. In the US, there were six per 1,000 births.
Health officials in developing countries announced a new target of reducing stillbirths by at least half by 2020. They estimate they will need US$10 billion a year for comprehensive health packages for pregnant women and babies.
While the vast majority of stillbirths happen in the developing world, the rates in countries including Britain, France and the United States have not dropped to the degree that many experts had expected, as rising obesity levels among pregnant women increase the risk.
Experts say providing better obstetric care, treating conditions like syphilis, high blood pressure and diabetes in mothers, among other strategies, could save more than 1 million infants every year.
"It's a scandal there are so many stillbirths that can be prevented," said Joy Lawn, director of global evidence and policy at Save the Children in South Africa, who led the Lancet series.
In developing countries, most stillbirths are caused by delivery complications, maternal infections in pregnancy, fetal growth problems and congenital abnormalities.
In developed countries, the reasons are often unclear why stillbirths occur, and surveillance and autopsy data are patchy.
But the researchers' estimates have a wide margin of error: the numbers range between 2.1 million to 3.8 million stillbirths a year. Those figures are based on reported statistics from 33 countries, largely in the West. For the other 160 countries, where the most stillbirths occur, scientists relied on modeled estimates.
Finland and Singapore had the lowest stillbirth rates worldwide - two per 1,000 births - while Nigeria and Pakistan were at the bottom of the list, with 42 and 47 stillbirths, respectively, per 1,000 births. In the US, there were six per 1,000 births.
Health officials in developing countries announced a new target of reducing stillbirths by at least half by 2020. They estimate they will need US$10 billion a year for comprehensive health packages for pregnant women and babies.
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