About this Research Topic

Background

Every year, about 2 million babies are stillborn and the majority of them could have been prevented with optimal care. There is wide variation in stillbirth rates across the world, from 1.4 to 32.2 stillbirths per 1000 total births in 2019. On average, the risk of stillbirth is 7.6 times higher in low-income countries (22.7 per 1000) than in high-income countries (3.0 per 1000). Sub-Saharan Africa, followed by Southern Asia, has the highest stillbirth rates and the greatest number of stillbirths. Six countries bear the burden of half of all stillbirths – India, Pakistan, Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, China, and Ethiopia. Why are we losing so many babies before they take their first breath? Why there is such a large disparity across regions? Why is progress in reducing the stillbirth rate so slow? What are the challenges and experiences of countries with the highest burden?

The goal of this Research Topic is to highlight the experiences, challenges faced in low and middle-income settings, and potential solutions. We are interested in risk factors, epidemiology and clinical insight, and pathophysiology of common causes of stillbirths. Also, we will consider research health systems or policies that address prevention, prediction, postpartum bereavement care, and management of perinatal grief and subsequent (‘rainbow’) pregnancies following stillbirth.

While we are particularly interested in intervention studies, we will accept original research articles that provide new insights, including primary quantitative, qualitative, or mixed methods research; interventional clinical trials; pilot/feasibility studies of interventions; scoping reviews; systematic reviews, and meta-analyses. Case reports/series will be considered only if they present unique content or illustrate a unique perspective.

Keywords: Stillbirth, stillbirth surveillance, Bereavement care, perinatal grief, Rainbow pregnancy

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

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