ArticleEuropean journal of public health2022
Clarity and consistency in stillbirth reporting in Europe: why is it so hard to get this right?
Article in European journal of public health, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 12 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
12 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Fetal death: Expert consensus of the French College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.International journal of gynaecology and obstetrics: the official organ of the International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics · 2025Guideline
- Fetal biometry and maternal characteristics for second trimester prediction of stillbirth.Acta obstetricia et gynecologica Scandinavica · 2026Observational
- Perinatal Epidemiology When Data Are Imperfect: Lessons From Studies on Maternal Mortality.Paediatric and perinatal epidemiology · 2025Article
- Stillbirth rates following the change in definition of fetal mortality in Quebec.Canadian journal of public health = Revue canadienne de sante publique · 2025Article
- Definitions, terminology and standards for reporting of births and deaths in the perinatal period: International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11).International journal of gynaecology and obstetrics: the official organ of the International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics · 2025Review
- Perinatal death in the Nordic countries in relation to gestational age: The impact of registration practice.Acta obstetricia et gynecologica Scandinavica · 2024Article
- Ending preventable stillbirths and improving bereavement care: a scorecard for high- and upper-middle income countries.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2023Article
- Late miscarriage and stillbirth in asymptomatic and symptomatic hospitalised pregnant women in Belgium during the first and second waves of COVID-19: a prospective nationwide population-based study.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2023Observational
- Article
- Developing and testing a protocol using a common data model for federated collection and analysis of national perinatal health indicators in Europe.Open research Europe · 2023Article
- Article
- Risk Measurement of Perinatal and Neonatal Morbidity Characteristics and Applicability of GAIA Case Definitions: Results and Lessons Learnt of a Hospital-Based Prospective Cohort Study in the Valencia Region (2019-2020).International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
16 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundStillbirth is a major public health problem, but measurement remains a challenge even in high-income countries. We compared routine stillbirth statistics in Europe reported by Eurostat with data from the Euro-Peristat research network.
methodsWe used data on stillbirths in 2015 from both sources for 31 European countries. Stillbirth rates per 1000 total births were analyzed by gestational age (GA) and birthweight groups. Information on termination of pregnancy at ≥22 weeks' GA was analyzed separately.
resultsRoutinely collected stillbirth rates were higher than those reported by the research network. For stillbirths with a birthweight ≥500 g, the difference between the mean rates of the countries for Eurostat and Euro-Peristat data was 22% [4.4/1000, versus 3.5/1000, mean difference 0.9 with 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.8-1.0]. When using a birthweight threshold of 1000 g, this difference was smaller, 12% (2.9/1000, versus 2.5/1000, mean difference 0.4 with 95% CI 0.3-0.5), but substantial differences remained for individual countries. In Euro-Peristat, missing data on birthweight ranged from 0% to 29% (average 5.0%) and were higher than missing data for GA (0-23%, average 1.8%).
conclusionsRoutine stillbirth data for European countries in international databases are not comparable and should not be used for benchmarking or surveillance without careful verification with other sources. Recommendations for improvement include using a cut-off based on GA, excluding late terminations of pregnancy and linking multiple sources to improve the quality of national databases.
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