U.S Stillbirths Are Quietly Surging, Study Warns

A troubling new medical study has found that stillbirth rates in the United States are continuing to surge to alarmingly high levels and show no sign of improvement.

The peer-reviewed study examined more than 2.7 million pregnancies between 2016 and 2022.

Researchers found that roughly one in 150 pregnancies (6.8 per 1,000) ended in stillbirth.

The rate is significantly higher than the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) previous estimate of one in 175 (5.7 per 1,000).

The findings underscore what public health experts are calling a persistent and preventable national tragedy that is being massively underreported by the corporate media.

The results of the study were published in the medical journal JAMA.

The study’s authors, including Dr. Mark Clapp from Massachusetts General Hospital, noted that both CDC data and new clinical data sets contain gaps, such as possible underreporting or the exclusion of Medicaid-covered pregnancies.

However, even accounting for those, the picture remains grim.

Dr. Jessica Cohen of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, one of the study’s co-leaders, said:

“Both of these data sources—the data in our study and the CDC data—have potential flaws, but the main issue is that, regardless of data source, the rate of stillbirths is too high.”

In 2023, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) described the U.S. stillbirth rate as “unacceptably high.”

Medical and Social Risk Factors

The research found that more than 72 percent of stillbirths occurred in pregnancies with one or more identifiable maternal or fetal risk factors, many of which are potentially preventable with proper medical oversight.

Common contributors included low amniotic fluid, fetal anomalies, chronic hypertension, obesity, diabetes, substance use, and restricted fetal growth.

In such cases, medical guidelines typically call for closer fetal monitoring through ultrasounds or non-stress tests, but the data suggest many at-risk pregnancies did not receive such intervention.

Perhaps most concerning, 27.7 percent of stillbirths occurred with no identifiable clinical risk factors, and that proportion increased with gestational age:

• 24.1 percent at 38 weeks
• 34.2 percent at 39 weeks
• 40.7 percent at 40 weeks or later.

The study’s authors warn that nearly half of term stillbirths might be preventable with improved predictive tools and proactive clinical care.

Stark Disparities and Systemic Failures

The data also reveal deep disparities across socioeconomic and racial lines.

Stillbirth rates climbed to one in 112 in low-income areas and one in 95 in communities with larger black populations.

While rural residence and hospital access did not appear to increase risk, the study pointed to social factors, health inequities, and unmeasured clinical variables as likely drivers.

CDC data shows that the stillbirth rate for black women (10.3 per 1,000) is more than double that of white women.

Despite being one of the wealthiest nations in the world, the United States ranks 25th among 49 high-income countries for stillbirth rates, according to a 2016 Lancet study.

“The U.S. has among the highest rates of stillbirth among all high-income countries, and there has been barely any improvement in stillbirth rates in recent years,” Cohen said.

In contrast, several European nations saw their stillbirth rates decline significantly between 2010 and 2020.

Globally, UNICEF estimates the stillbirth risk at 14.3 per 1,000 births, with socioeconomic inequalities doubling the risk even in wealthy nations.

A Preventable National Tragedy

Each year, nearly 21,000 American families experience the devastation of stillbirth, according to the CDC.

Cohen urged policymakers and the medical community to treat the issue as an urgent public health crisis.

“Many stillbirths are potentially preventable, and we can lower the stillbirth rate in the U.S., but not without attention, research, and resources,” she said.

The report calls for greater investment in prenatal care, updated risk assessment tools, and broader awareness, warning that without decisive action, thousands of preventable stillbirths will continue to occur every year.

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