Media Release
May 23 2011
Four steps to reduce risk of stillbirth
A
new brochure on ‘keeping baby safe in pregnancy’ recommends four simple
steps pregnant women can take to minimise the risk of stillbirth.
Dr Jane Warland from UniSA’s
School of Nursing and Midwifery says stillbirth is a forgotten
tragedy in our community and it’s time that changed.
“The annual rate of stillbirths in Australia exceeds road deaths by up
to 40 per cent,” Dr Warland says.
“Reducing the impact of stillbirth in our community is important because
of all the long-term negative outcomes associated with this loss; things
like grief and loss affecting mental health, not only of the parents
themselves but also their immediate friends and family, children already
in the family and children born subsequently.”
Stillbirth, when a baby is born with no signs of life because it has
died in the womb, occurs every one in 140 births in Australia.
There are around 2000 stillbirths each year or about six stillbirths
every day, a number many times higher than the annual road toll.
Dr Warland, in partnership with
SIDS and
Kids SA, has developed a ‘SAFE’ brochure outlining the four
strategies pregnant women can adopt to reduce their chance of suffering
a stillbirth.
“I came up with the acronym SAFE in order for it to be both a memorable
and practical way for women to proactively do four simple things to help
minimise their risk of suffering this tragedy,” Dr Warland says.
“Each letter is based on the best currently available evidence. While of
course there are no guarantees that following these four steps will
prevent stillbirth, it is likely that women who follow these steps are
less likely to suffer this tragedy in the same way as putting baby on
their back to sleep doesn’t completely remove the risk of SIDS.”
The four strategies outlined in the brochure are Sleep on your left,
Always keep appointments, Feeling baby move and getting Early expert
advice.
The brochure also emphasises the importance of discussing individual
situations with a midwife or obstetrician.
The SAFE brochure will be launched at the inaugural SIDS and Kids
Stillbirth Seminar to be held at the BioSA Incubator, Thebarton, on
Wednesday May 25 at 12pm. The brochure has been funded by the Community
Enterprise Foundation, an initiative of the Bendigo Bank Group.
For more information on stillbirth visit
www.stillbirthfoundation.org.au or
www.stillbirthalliance.org.
For support after a stillbirth visit
www.sidsandkids.org,
www.sands.org.au or
www.teddyloveclub.org.au
Media contact
- Kelly Stone office (08) 8302 0963 mobile 0417 861 832 email kelly.stone@unisa.edu.au