Copyright Newsweek
Stillborn births are on the rise in the United States, according to a new study published by Mass General Brigham. The new study found that based on pregnancies between 2016 and 2022, over one in 150 births ended in a stillbirth, with a significantly higher rate of one in 112 in low-income areas. The one in 150 stillbirth rate is higher than the rate of 1 in 175 births that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published as the national average in 2021, indicating a possible surge. Dr. Nicole Tsang, clinician at online doctor service Circle Medical, told Newsweek, in part, “We’re learning that stillbirths may be more common than we previously thought." Why It Matters Stillbirths are defined as the birth of a fetus at or after either 20 or 28 weeks, depending on the source. Various factors can play a role in how likely a mother is to experience the stillborn birth of her child, but studies have found that mothers who have already experienced a stillborn are five times more likely to experience another. What To Know The new study from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Mass General Brigham found that one in 150 births end in stillbirth, a rate higher than the rate of 1 in 175 births that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published as the national average in 2021. Meanwhile, the stillbirth rate was one in every 95 births in areas with higher proportions of Black families compared to white families. The report also discovered that over 70 percent of stillbirths occurred in pregnancies with at least one clinical risk factor, but a substantial share, especially those that happened at 40 weeks or more of gestation, had no risk factors. “That’s one of the hardest truths of this research, as many stillbirths happen in pregnancies that can look completely healthy,” Dr. Nicole Tsang, clinician at online doctor service Circle Medical, told Newsweek. “That tells me that our current understanding of all the risks is incomplete. There are likely subtle issues, involving blood flow or inflammation that we can’t yet detect with standard prenatal care.” Clinical risk factors include gestational age at delivery; pregnancy risks such as obesity, pregnancy-related and chronic hypertension, gestational and pre-pregnancy diabetes, and substance use; fetal risks, such as decreased movement, growth restriction, and anomalies; and obstetric risks, such as history of stillbirth or adverse pregnancy outcomes and low or excess amniotic fluid levels. “Stillbirths impact nearly 21,000 families each year in the U.S., and nearly half of those occurring at 37+ weeks are thought to be preventable. Yet there is very little research in this area,” said co-senior author Jessica Cohen, PhD, professor of health economics, in a statement. “Our study highlights the pressing need to improve stillbirth risk prediction and prevention.” Across 2.7 million pregnancies across the U.S. between 2016 and 2022, 18,893 stillbirths were identified, and nearly 27.7 percent had no known risk factors. “Although momentum toward improving stillbirth research and prevention efforts has increased in recent years, rates in the U.S. remain much higher than in peer countries,” said co-senior author Mark Clapp, MD, MPH, maternal-fetal medicine provider in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Massachusetts General Hospital, in a statement. “I hope this study will inform policy, practice changes, and future research to ensure no person or family has to experience this outcome.” What People Are Saying Dr. Jonathan Sher, the former deputy director for Queen’s Nursing Institute Scotland and the founding partner for Scotland’s Coalition for Healthier Pregnancies, Better Lives (HPBL), told Newsweek: “Somewhere in the world, a stillbirth occurs every ten seconds. Globally, miscarriages are even more frequent. Some, but not all, of these ‘unhappy endings’ were preventable, but not prevented. The most crucial time for effective prevention is before, not during, pregnancy. The US and nearly all other nations dramatically underinvest in - and accord too low a priority - to preconception health, education and care.” Lauren Silva Laughlin, founder and CEO of Batch Global, a start-up focused on male-factor infertility, told Newsweek: “Men’s contributions to fertility outcomes is a horribly overlooked aspect of pregnancy. Stress, age, weight, and other lifestyle factors like smoking and drinking frequency can all effect sperm, which make up half the equation.” Tsang told Newsweek: “We’re learning that stillbirths may be more common than we previously thought. There is not necessarily something new happening with our biology, but, there are worrying trends that could be contributing to this rise. Chronic conditions like obesity, diabetes, and high blood pressure are being diagnosed more frequently and earlier in life. Those health issues don’t just affect the mother, they affect the entire pregnancy environment.” What Happens Next Silva Laughlin said fertility growth rates continue to decrease globally, likely contributing to a lower birth rate in the long run. “We already know that fertility growth rates are falling dramatically across the world. If these problems aren’t solved, specifically focusing on all contributors including men, it is quite literally an existential problem,” Silva Laughlin said.
