Breaking The Silence

I talk a lot about the amazing progress the world has made in child health, especially that we have dramatically reduced the number of childhood deaths each year from 12 million to 8 million in the past 20 years alone. A lot of that progress has come about because we as a world simply decided that the death of these children was unacceptable. We knew we had the proper tools, but it took our voices to raise the issue and the collective will to do something about it. Last week, with the release of a seminal publication on the topic, an equally important challenge stands before us -- stillbirths -- and it's again time to break our silence and our complacency.

Stillbirth, the death of a baby in utero during the third trimester or during childbirth, is a devastating occurrence for families. The numbers are striking -- 2.6 million stillbirths occur each year, and nearly half happen after the woman has gone into labor. Equally devastating for mothers is that oftentimes they must suffer through this tragedy alone, facing blame, isolation, and pressure to become pregnant again soon.

The landmark Lancet Stillbirth Series, released last week, features the incredible work of many foundation partners and does a remarkable job of bringing attention to the many layers of this complex issue.