ArticleGlobal health action2015
Weeping in silence: community experiences of stillbirths in rural eastern Uganda.
Article in Global health action, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 42 papers.
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Who cites it
42 citing papers in PubMed, 90 citations in OpenAlex.
- Community-level interventions for pre-eclampsia (CLIP) in Mozambique: A cluster randomised controlled trial.Pregnancy hypertension · 2020Trial
- Experiences and Coping Mechanisms of Postnatal Women Who Had a Stillbirth in Eastern Uganda: A Descriptive Phenomenological Study.International journal of women's health · 2026Article
- Article
- Data science and artificial intelligence for maternal, newborn and child health: scoping review and thematic analysis.BMC public health · 2025Article
- 'The grave must not be seen by anyone!': Beliefs and practices about stillbirths in Eastern Uganda.Reproductive health · 2025Article
- "I have to be strong": A qualitative study of parental bereavement experiences in Uganda following the death of their baby.Women and birth : journal of the Australian College of Midwives · 2025Article
- Article
- Parental experiences of stillbirth rituals in Limpopo, South Africa.Health SA = SA Gesondheid · 2025Article
- Adverse birth outcome among women who gave birth at the University of Gondar comprehensive specialized hospital, Northwest Ethiopia.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2024Article
- A model for older adults' coping with the death of their child: a grounded theory study.BMC psychiatry · 2024Article
- Women's experiences of care after stillbirth and obstetric fistula: A phenomenological study in Kenya.Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy · 2023Article
- Provider-mother interactions are associated with birth outcome misclassifications in household surveys: A case-control study in Guinea-Bissau.Journal of global health · 2023Article
- An exploration of health workers' experiences in providing bereavement care to mothers following a stillbirth: results from a subnational level health system in Uganda.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2023Article
- Mothers' perceptions and experiences of caring for sick newborns in Newborn Care Units in public hospitals in Eastern Uganda: a qualitative study.Reproductive health · 2023Article
- Cultural beliefs and practices on perinatal death: a qualitative study among the Lango community in Northern Uganda.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2023Article
- 'There is trauma all round': A qualitative study of health workers' experiences of caring for parents after stillbirth in Kenya and Uganda.Women and birth : journal of the Australian College of Midwives · 2023Article
- Exploring the impact of healthcare workers communication with women who have experienced stillbirth in Malawi, Tanzania and Zambia. A grounded theory study.Women and birth : journal of the Australian College of Midwives · 2023Article
- 'Moving towards understanding', acceptability of investigations following stillbirth in sub-Saharan Africa: A grounded theory study.BJOG : an international journal of obstetrics and gynaecology · 2023Article
- Explanatory models of stillbirth among bereaved parents in Afghanistan: Implications for stillbirth prevention.PLOS global public health · 2023Article
- "Your heart keeps bleeding": lived experiences of parents with a perinatal death in Northern Uganda.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundStillbirths do not register amongst national or global public health priorities, despite large numbers and known solutions. Although not accounted in statistics - these deaths count for families. Part of this disconnect is that very little is known about the lived experiences and perceptions of those experiencing this neglected problem.
objectiveThis study aimed to explore local definitions and perceived causes of stillbirths as well as coping mechanisms used by families affected by stillbirth in rural eastern Uganda.
designA total of 29 in-depth interviews were conducted with women who had a stillbirth (14), men whose wives experienced a stillbirth (6), grandmothers (4), grandfathers (1), and traditional birth attendants (TBAs) (4). Participants were purposively recruited from the hospital maternity ward register, with additional recruitment done through community leaders and other participants. Data were analysed using content analysis.
resultsWomen and families affected by stillbirth report pregnancy loss as a common occurrence. Definitions and causes of stillbirth included the biomedical, societal, and spiritual. Disclosure of stillbirth varies with women who experience consecutive or multiple losses, subject to potential exclusion from the community and even the family. Methods for coping with stillbirth were varied and personal. Ritual burial practices were common, yet silent and mainly left to women, as opposed to public mourning for older children. There were no formal health system mechanisms to support or care for families affected by stillbirths.
conclusionIn a setting with strong collective ties, stillbirths are a burden borne by the affected family, and often just by the mother, rather than the community as a whole. Strategies are needed to address preventable stillbirths as well as to follow up with supportive services for those affected.
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