Spike in stillbirths caused by lockdown

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www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-02618-5

Birth data from a large hospital in London showed a similar trend. In July, Asma Khalil, an obstetrician at St George’s, University of London, and her colleagues reported a nearly fourfold increase in the incidence of stillbirths at St George’s Hospital, from 2.38 per 1,000 births between October 2019 and the end of January this year, to 9.31 per 1,000 births between February and mid-June.

Khalil calls this the collateral damage of the pandemic. She says that during lockdown, pregnant women might have developed complications that were not diagnosed, and might have hesitated about coming to hospital and therefore been seen by doctors only when a complication was advanced, when less could be done.

Add to the list of ways in which the pandemic and how it's been mismanaged has disproportionately affected women.

Very sorry to everyone on this thread who has been affected. I'm hugely saddened maternity care has suffered though not surprised at all.

As other posters have said it won't just be about what healthcare was available it's also about the vulnerability of pregnant women and their confidence and/or means of accessing the care during the pandemic.

This is such sad news, along with everyone whose care has been affected for other medical problems. I cannot begin to imagine the heartbreak that accompanies a stillbirth.

I don't want to say too much but I have a very niche job and during lockdown was vaguely involved in some decision-making around maternity/covid risks. I strongly felt that birthing mothers were absolutely being thrown under the bus, and both they and the fathers/birth partners were massively affected. Needless to say I wasn't really listened to and my view was pretty much written off as being 'too emotional'. The rationale for that being that I have small children and have given birth relatively recently, oddly enough I thought that gave me better insight into the issues

Thats sad to hear @Dontbelonghere, although its not surprising the powers that be dont really care. Ive found in my trust, just about third trimester, that the community midwives are noticing stuff not being done correctly, and my local hospital unit is just passing the buck constantly. I think the midwives are very frustrated.

I have noticed a number of threads/posts from women being told they can't be seen/assessed for issues that, back in my day, (1980s) would have made us tell them to come and be checked out. Things like obvious signs of pre-eclampsia, prem labour, DVT/PE, all told not to get checked but wait and see.
I have a fairly serious, chronic condition myself and haven't seen my consultant for a year. It is scary.
What is the point of having a system of antenatal care, developed over years of researching best practice and outcomes, if it all just goes out the window?
It should be possible to keep basic care going, given that hospitals actually aren't that busy and GP surgeries are very quiet too.
Many things can be dealt with by phone and video but antenatal care really isn't one of them.

This doesn't surprise me either. I gave birth at the end of July after a fairly complicated pregnancy and much as they tried a lot of care was diminished. I had the same condition in 2018, where much was made of the risks and need for lots of care. This time during lockdown, the condition was much more severe, but most of my care was simply cancelled. I saw my community midwife once, consultant twice. Scans were cancelled (altho some were reinstated as I progressed) and replaced with the offer of a tape measure. The birth itself was a shambles, and after an extremely traumatic delivery DH was chucked out after 40 mins. So I was wheeled up to post natal in a right state and just left.

I spoke with a woman on a rare spot in the waiting room who had suffered a stillbirth the year before and was supposed to be having weekly monitoring from about 32w but that had all been cancelled too. I think of her often. Hope she was ok.

@LimpLettice

Sounds like a totally shit experience.

Mine was similar, apart from OH being kicked out after birth, and mine was 19 months ago so they can’t even blame covid for the shit show treatment.
I have a heart condition so should be consultant led- didn’t see a doctor once during my labour as the ward was so busy!