Stillbirth epidemiology, risk factors, and opportunities for stillbirth prevention

Ruth Fretts1

  • 1Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Reproductive Biology, Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates, Harvard Medical School, Wellesley, Massachusetts, USA. rfretts@vmed.org

World-wide, there are between 3 and 4 million stillbirths delivered each year, 98% of these deaths occur in the developing world. Although there are very significant differences in the rate and causes of stillbirth in these settings, the study of stillbirth globally gives insight into the interaction between the fetal and maternal conditions in the setting of varying access to healthy food, access to medical care, treatment of infections, screening of congenital anomalies, education, and access to antepartum and intrapartum care.

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