Weight and age 'affect' stillbirth risks
08 May 2008
It is proving difficult to bring down the stillbirth rate in the UK, reports have claimed.
According to the BBC, a study from the Confidential Enquiry into Maternal and Child Health (CEMACH) showed that the rate of stillbirths has crept down slowly, but warned that progress was being impeded by obesity, social deprivation and other factors.
The stillbirth rate in England, Wales and Northern Ireland was 5.3 per 1,000 total births in 2006, a slight drop from the figure of 5.4 noted in 2000 but not progress enough to prevent questions being asked.
CEMACH identified trends in stillbirth cases, finding that mothers under 20 and over 40 suffered the highest rates of stillbirth, while some 26 % of cases where body mass index was measured showed the mother to be obese.
The group's clinical director for obstetrics, Jo Modder, said: "Health services are improving and there are greater advances in neonatal care, however these are happening against the background of a changing population."
While overall stillbirths are only creeping down, the report noted a more significant reduction in the number of babies dying in the month subsequent to birth.
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