Trigger warning: This article discusses baby loss
1 in 225 foetuses die before or during delivery in the UK each year. A third of these are term babies – born at 37 weeks or beyond – who were considered healthy before their death.
Women in the UK are routinely offered induction of labour after 41 weeks gestation. The risk of stillbirth increases from 0.11 per 1,000 pregnancies at 37 weeks to 3.18 per 1,000 at 42 weeks. In mothers whose pregnancy continued to 41 weeks, there is a 64 per cent increase in the risk of stillbirth compared with mothers who delivered at 40 weeks.1