A new study suggests that the dramatic fall in stillbirths is not due to the adoption of new growth assessement protocols in pregnancy. In 2015, the Secretary of State for Health in the UK announced a national ambition to halve the rates of stillbirths, neonatal and maternal deaths and brain injuries at birth by 2030, with a 20% reduction by 2020. The target is well on track to be met. But what lies behind its success. It was thought that it was the result of new protocols for assessing the growth of the baby in the womb. By comparing the growth of the fetus with expected growth for gestational age can indicate if something is going wrong. For this vital assessment, growth charts are used. The problem with the older growth charts was that they took no account of heterogeneity in the population. More accurate growth assessment could save the lives of babies if problems could be detected sufficiently early in pregnancy. One approach in recent years...
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