Stillbirth rates have fallen since 2000, however around 7,200 babies continue to be stillborn every day around the world, researchers have found.

According to a new series published in the medical journal, The Lancet, between 2000 and 2015, the global average stiilbirth rate fell from 24.7 per 1,000 total births to 18.4 per 1,000 - an annual rate of reduction of 2%.

However, this fall has failed to keep pace with falls in childhood and maternal mortality rates, the researchers noted.

A stillbirth refers to the death of a baby during the final trimester of pregnancy (after 28 weeks gestation). Last year alone, around 2.6 million babies were stillborn.

The researchers said that while the vast majority of stillbirths occur in low-income and middle-income countries, they are also a problem, for high-income countries, particularly among women from poorer socioeconomic backgrounds.

They noted that a woman living in a high-income country under adverse socioeconomic circumstances has twice the risk of experiencing a stillbirth than her more advantaged peers.

They said that tackling the higher rate of stillbirths among disadvantaged women should include things such as education, the alleviation of poverty and better access to healthcare.

Meanwhile the series also looked at the preventability of stillbirths using data from 18 countries. This data suggests that congenital abnormalities only account for around 7% of stillbirths. This, they say, dispels the myth that most stillbirths are due to abnormalities and are inevitable.

The series also pointed out that stigma continues to be an issue for bereaved parents. A survey conducted for the series by the International Stillbirth Alliance, revealed that around half of parents felt that their community believed that ‘parents should not talk about their stillborn baby because it makes people feel uncomfortable'.

This was particularly an issue in low-income and middle-income countries where talking about death can be taboo and where the deceased baby was not yet deemed to be a person. In such cases, mothers suppressed their grief in public and dealt with it behind closed doors.

"On the basis of these data, the key element of what works to reduce the impact of stillbirth on bereaved parents and families can be summarised as seeing through the eyes of those affected.

"This includes staff who understand what different parents and families need and when they need it, communities that acknowledge grief and loss and do not stigmatise those who have had stillbirths, employers who provide effective leave arrangements, and governments that provide tangible support, such as funeral costs," the researchers commented.

The series, Ending Preventable Stillbirth, is published in The Lancet.