Blog summary 2: Stillborn figures UK
Stillbirth rates UK one of Europe’s highest, Lancet finds
The UK has one of the highest stillborn figures in developed countries. To establish the cause of these high rates a lot of research still has to be done. There are, however, some factors that appear in the UK that are known to contribute to the risks of a stillborn. There can be problems with the placenta and it can affect any woman. Risk factors such as smoking and drinking during pregnancy, obesity or having children late in life are considered a cause for stillbirths. These factors can be related to social environment and ethnic groups. Although this knowledge can be the basis to find ways for reducing the high stillborn figures, the reason for the high figures in the UK remains unclear.
Personal comment:
When reading the article I thought it would give an answer to the question why the UK has such a high stillborn rate. However, there still has to be done a lot of research on this matter. Therefore the article only gives an explanation on the causes of stillbirths and the different angles of research for the future. At first this was somewhat disappointing. But after reading the article again I figured that the intention of this article is to draw attention to the subject and focus on the research that has to be done. And both of these topics are clearly covered in the article.
This is definitely interesting article, which covers a story that I think is very vital for many people. But I also think that another reason for this article is to make the women aware of the fact they also bring it on themselves with their smoking and drinking. Not an unimportant matter I would think.
ReplyDeleteI like this article a lot because it made me think about the fact that there are women all around the world who have to deal with the loss of their baby every day. I have several colleagues who are on leave because they've just had a baby. All these babies are healthy and these new parents are very lucky!
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