COVID-19 could add to 2 million per year stillbirth toll: UN

Almost two million babies are stillborn every year - one every 16 seconds - the United Nations said Thursday (Oct 8), warning that the COVID-19 pandemic could add another 200,000 deaths to the "devastating" toll.

The vast majority of stillbirths, 84 per cent, occur in low- and middle-income countries, where basic neo-natal care could save hundreds of thousands of lives each year, according to a joint report by UNICEF, the World Health Organization and the World Bank Group.

Most stillbirths occur due to poor quality healthcare lacking investment in equipment and training of midwives.

And unlike notable reductions in recent decades in the global rate of maternal and infant deaths, stillbirths remain stubbornly frequent, particularly throughout sub-Saharan Africa and southeast Asia.

The report warned that the pandemic could result in nearly 200,000 additional stillbirths, assuming that 50 per cent of health services are impacted in low- and middle-income countries by the COVID-19 response.

Mark Hereward, UNICEF's associate director for data and analytics, told AFP that infants in many countries would suffer from COVID-19 even if their mothers never contracted the disease.

Hereward said that without urgent action the world will have suffered 20 million more stillbirths by 2030.

Globally, over 40 per cent of stillbirths occur during labour, the UN said. These are among the most avoidable deaths given that many labour stillbirths could be prevented with access to trained midwives and emergency obstetric care.

Ref: AFP