The Department of Health has released a national plan to reduce the number of stillbirths being experienced in Australia and ensure affected families receive the respectful bereavement care they need.
Minister for Health, Greg Hunt said the National Stillbirth Action and Implementation Plan’s primary goal was to reduce stillbirths by 20 per cent or more over the next five years.
“There are six stillbirths each day in Australia, that means suffering and loss for more than 2,000 families every year,” Mr Hunt said.
“Such loss is particularly hard as mothers and fathers prepare to welcome a new life into their families,” he said.
“A time of joy is replaced with heartbreak.”
Mr Hunt said despite increasing evidence that many stillbirths could be prevented, there has been little change in the stillbirth rate in Australia over the past two decades.
The Minister said that over the next four years the Plan would provide $4 million to support stillbirth education and awareness initiatives; $2.1 million to adapt the Safer Baby Bundle program for priority populations; $0.5 million to develop new Clinical Care Standards and update existing clinical care guidelines relating to stillbirth; and $0.5 million for data improvement and activities to enable long-term research on stillbirth.
He said $1.7 million would be allocated to develop a monitoring and evaluation framework for the Plan would also be provided with $1 million for State and Territory Governments to take immediate steps to increase the uptake of stillbirth autopsies and investigations.
“The Plan was informed by consultation with bereaved parents, new parents, and groups at increased risk of stillbirth, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women, migrant, refugee and rural and remote communities,” Mr Hunt said.
He said the Plan was also developed in collaboration with State and Territory Governments, and organisations that helped to reduce stillbirths and provided support for impacted Australian families.
The Department of Health’s 32-page national Plan can be accessed at this PS News link.
