Why babies die: the global human tragedy of stillbirth

Abstract

Stillbirth is a global human tragedy, responsible for 3 million deaths every year. Effective interventions to reduce stillbirth is arguably one of the most important public health priorities. In Australia, 1 in 130 of all pregnancies end in stillbirth; twice as many lives are lost to stillbirth as to road accidents every year. Disturbingly, rates of stillbirth in Australia have remained static for over a decade. In part, this is because of the changing face of pregnant women in 2014; increasing maternal age, increasing use of artificial reproductive techniques and increasing obesity are all recognised risk factors for stillbirth. The Lancet stillbirth series has articulated the top 10 interventions to reduce the global burden of stillbirth. In the developing world, such interventions include reducing the risk of malarial infection in pregnancy and provision of emergency obstetric care. In the developed world, key priorities include improved detection and management of the hypertensive disorders of pregnancy and fetal growth restriction, and timely induction of labour at term. This talk will provide an overview of the epidemiology of stillbirth, as well as outline future inroads into reducing stillbirth risk through improved identification of growth restricted fetuses, and exciting potential therapies for pre-eclampsia.