Year | Key event | Link to global campaign theme | Relevance to stillbirth response |
---|---|---|---|
2003 | Foundation of the International Stillbirth Alliance in the USA | Actions against stigma. Research. Improved care. Advocacy | Combine healthcare professional knowledge and passion for families to advance stillbirth prevention research, medical/clinical care, and bereavement services. |
2005 | First MDG report of the countdown to 2015 with stillbirth not reflected as an indicator | Establish burden and disparities | Absence of stillbirth as an indicator for maternal and neonatal health outcomes later informed WHO’s decision to include it as a quality of care indicator. |
2009 | Seattle conference convened by Global Alliance for Prevention of Prematurity and Stillbirth (GAPPS) | Evidence of cost effective interventions Global and country targets for stillbirth reduction | Drawing global attention to pre-term and stillbirth which had shown less progress compared to maternal and child mortality. |
2010 | Countdown to 2015 decade report (2000–2010): taking stock of maternal, newborn and child survival | Establish burden and disparities Integrated prevention | • Considering stillbirth as a vital indicator for maternal and child health outcomes. • Provision of evidence on scale of stillbirth and amplifying the global burden. • Raising visibility • Promote prioritization of intervention to address the burden. |
2010 | Launch of the UN Secretary general’s Global strategy “Every woman every Child” | Integrated prevention | Highlights key areas for urgent attention to enhance financing, policy and service delivery with a newborn survival component which included addressing stillbirth |
2011 | Lancet stillbirth series: Call to action | Evidence of cost effective intervention. Progress monitoring. Integrated prevention. Investigate causes. Establish burden and disparities. Research. Action against stigma. Advocacy. | Reviewed status of stillbirth and advocacy to get stillbirth out of the shadow with a call to all stakeholders to take action geared towards reduction. |
2011 | Launch of saving Lives at Birth | Integrated prevention. Evidence of cost effective interventions. | Increased funding from global health stakeholders for maternal and child health interventions with neonatal component and specifically targeting combating preventable stillbirth |
2012 | Rollout of Saving Mothers Giving Lives (SMGL) | Integrated prevention. Evidence of cost effective interventions. Progress monitoring Actions against stigma | • Enhance existing district maternal and child health services to strengthen evidence-based interventions through a three delays model. • Reduce pregnancy and childbirth related deaths including stillbirth and primarily focusing on the critical period of labor, delivery, and 48 h postpartum when most maternal and newborn deaths happen. • Harnessing of the public-private partnership. |
2013 | First Global Conference on newborn survival held in April 2013 in Johannesburg South Africa. | Evidence of cost effective interventions. Integrated prevention Progress monitoring. Establish burden and disparities. Global and country targets for prevention. | • First Global conference for newborn summit aimed at accelerating scale-up of high impact interventions to address leading causes of newborn mortality. • Review progress to tackling preventable newborn deaths and call to action for urgency to address the problem. • Develop ENAP in support of global strategy for Women’s and children’s health, Every woman Every Child movement and build recommendations for UN commission on Life saving commodities, A promise Renewed to child survival and Family Planning 2020 objectives. |
2014 | Every newborn action plan (ENAP) in support of earlier Every Woman Every Child. | Integrated prevention. Evidence of cost effective interventions Global and country targets for prevention. | • Advances the objectives of the global strategy for women and children by focusing on quality of care at birth with special attention to newborn health and stillbirth as unfinished agenda from the MDGs • Sets global and national targets for preventable stillbirth reduction and milestones for quality of care. |
2015 | World Bank Business plan-GFF in support of Every Woman Every Child | Integrated prevention. Evidence-based cost effective interventions. | Operationalizes the UN Secretary general’s global strategy objective of innovative approaches to financing for health in response to the funding gap to address the RMNCAH unfinished agenda post MDG including reduction of stillbirth |
2016 | Lancet series; ending preventable stillbirths | Progress monitoring. Evidence of cost effective intervention. Integrated prevention. Establish burden and disparities. Research Action against stigma. Advocacy. | Global advocacy and call to action to address preventable stillbirth |
2016 | ISA five year strategic plan | Progress monitoring. Evidence of cost effective interventions. Integrated prevention. Action against stigma. Advocacy | Through the strategic plan led to establishment of technical working group strategy to pursue objectives of the five year duration while coordinating international response. Establishment of technical working groups for global coordination of efforts |
2016 | BMC stillbirth series (care after stillbirth) | Actions against stigma. Evidence of cost effective intervention Integrated prevention | Burden of stillbirth, impact on families and calls for action to address social determinants of health which are the underlying causes. Calls to link research to interventions to address the causes |
2020 | UNICEF/WHO stillbirth epidemiology report | Establish burden and disparities. Progress monitoring. | Global estimates of stillbirth burden. |