Victoria’s rate of stillbirth has not changed in 20 years

Despite advances in most areas of healthcare, one shocking Victorian statistic still hasn’t changed in 20 years. This is the devastating loss which affects 500 pregnant mums and their babies every year.

Five hundred Victorian mothers experience a stillbirth, statistics show. Picture: iStock

A major effort is launched to finally cut the tragic toll of stillbirth across Victoria by a fifth over the next three years.

Under the Andrews Government plan, 20 maternity services and the state’s safety agencies will come together to target preventable stillbirths through measures including improved foetal monitoring and helping pregnant women to quit smoking.

Despite advances in most areas of healthcare, the rates of stillbirth in Victoria have not changed in 20 years, accounting for about 500 pregnancies each year.

With community awareness remaining low about the risk factors driving stillbirth Health Minister Jenny Mikakos will on Wednesday announce the Safer Baby Collaborative as well as the goal of reducing the rate of stillbirths in Victoria by 20 per cent by 2022.

“Losing a baby to stillbirth is such a heartbreaking and traumatic time for too many hopeful parents,” Ms Mikakos said.

“Equally tragic is that our stillbirth rate has remained the same for the past two decades. We must do things differently to prevent stillbirths and save lives.

“When we’re all working together — we can help prevent stillbirths.”

Co-ordinated by Victoria’s healthcare safety improvement agency Safer Care Victoria — which was established in the wake of the Bacchus Marsh Hospital baby deaths scandal — Ms Mikakos said the plan the most significant effort in the state’s to reduce preventable stillbirths.

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Partnering with the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, the collaborative will focus on increasing public awareness of the importance of foetal movements, as well as:

• Improving diagnosis and management of foetal growth restriction;

• Cutting the rates of smoking during pregnancy;

• Raising awareness of safe maternal sleep positions; and

• Promoting appropriate timing of birth and limiting unintended consequences or dangers.

The initiative follows the Movements Matter campaign launched by Safer Care Victoria last October to encourage pregnant women to get to know their baby movements and to seek help if the notice a change.

Safer Care Victoria has also run 23 workshops for more than 700 clinicians over the past year to help improve antenatal detection and management of foetal growth restriction.