Nigeria, DR Congo, Others Account for Almost Half of 2021 Stillbirths – UNICEF
Latest figures from United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF), yesterday, indicated that Nigeria, India, Pakistan, Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo), Ethiopia and Bangladesh accounted for almost half of over 5,000 babies that were stillborn at 28 weeks or more of gestation in 2021.
The report indicated a staggering 1.9 million babies stillborn in just one year. Two in five of the infants died during labour, also known as intrapartum stillbirth. The estimates in the publication, the second report to address stillbirth by the United Nations Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation (UN IGME), were derived from the most recent data from 195 countries and provided a picture of late gestation stillbirth or deaths that occurred at 28 weeks or more of gestation.
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They highlighted the immense and continuous burden of stillbirths and predisposition of women to the phenomenon globally, even as it was established that if pregnant women have access to quality care, most stillbirths could be prevented.
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The burden of stillbirths is highest in sub-Saharan Africa and Southern Asia, with the two regions accounting for three quarters of all stillbirths. In sub-Saharan Africa, the stillbirth rate of 21.0 per 1,000 total births was seven times higher than the lowest regional rate of 2.9 found in the Europe, North America, Australia and New Zealand regions.
More worrisome, Sub-Saharan Africa’s portion of the global number of stillbirths has increased from 26 per cent in 2000 to 45 per cent in 2021, as population growth has outpaced decreases in stillbirth rates.
Over the past two decades, substantial progress has been made in reducing the stillbirth rate globally, which declined from 21.3 stillbirth per 1,000 total births in 2000 to 13.9 in 2021 – a 35 per cent reduction. Similarly, the total number of stillbirths also decreased by 35 per cent, from 2.9 million to 1.9 million. However, these reductions have not kept pace with other indicators such as under-five mortality.
