Never Forgotten: The situation of stillbirth around the globe

Every day in 2021, over 5,000 babies were stillborn at 28 weeks or more of gestation. That’s a staggering 1.9 million babies stillborn in just one year. Two in five of these babies died during labour – what is known as intrapartum stillbirth. The estimates in this publication, the second report to address stillbirth by the United Nations Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation (UN IGME), are derived from the most up-to-date data from 195 countries and provide a picture of late gestation stillbirth, or deaths that occur at 28 weeks or more of gestation. They highlight the immense and continued annual burden of stillbirths and the women in the world at greatest risk of having a stillbirth. They also call attention to the fact that when pregnant women have access to quality care, most stillbirths can be prevented.