Silent loss: Hurting families speak out on stillbirth crisis

A newborn baby/HANDOUT

Afterwards, she was placed in a ward full of mothers with live babies. 

“No counselling, no explanation, no compassion,” she says.

In 2017, her daughter Tiffany was born prematurely at 35 weeks in a hospital without enough facilities to save her. She lived 37 hours.

“Again, I was surrounded by newborn cries that deepened the trauma and was later discharged without support,” she says.

“There was no follow-up. Cultural stigma added to the pain, ‘it’s a curse,’ people said.”

Her partner Leonard Nango’le was also overcome by grief, but his pain was invisible. He was told to be strong and had no space to mourn.

“No family should survive loss and then be abandoned by the system meant to care for them,” Mwangi says.

Their experience, presented by the ongoing International Maternal Newborn Health Conference (IMNHC) in Nairobi, mirrors that of thousands of families across Kenya, where stillbirth remains common and largely hidden.

Kenya records a stillbirth rate of 15 per 1,000 births, translating to about 24,000 stillbirths each year, according to the Ministry of Health.

Many of these losses happen quietly, often unreported and unacknowledged.

Now, a new report is putting a spotlight on the numbers and the silence.

The report, titled 'State of Africa’s Stillbirths', was presented at the ongoing IMNHC. It highlights Kenya as one of the countries taking steps to strengthen bereavement care as part of respectful maternity and newborn services.

“Kenya is strengthening bereavement care as part of respectful maternity and newborn services, with counties leading practical innovations to support families after stillbirth or neonatal loss,” the report states.

It adds that structured bereavement care training builds health workers’ confidence and communication skills, while facilities designate bereavement champions who mentor colleagues and embed compassionate practices.

Mwangi and Nango’le have become bereavement champions through their platform, Empower Mama Foundation.

“Today, through the Empower Mama Foundation, we advocate for trauma-informed care, respectful maternity services, and support for fathers’ mental health,” Mwangi says.

Experts say these efforts are also aimed at breaking the stigma that has long surrounded stillbirth.

“These deaths are frequently undercounted, underreported and overlooked in policy, planning and financing decisions,” the report says. This makes it harder for governments to respond effectively or design interventions that save lives.

Grace Mwashighadi, co-chairperson of The Lancet Stillbirth Advisory Committee, has had three stillbirths.

“The longest walk I’ve ever undertaken was walking out of a hospital three times without a baby," she says.

"I know first-hand what it means to be more than a statistic, because behind every stillbirth is a family, a mother, and a set of expectations, hopes and dreams that are suddenly interrupted.”

Mwashighadi says when stillbirths are hidden, they remain outside health systems, weakening data, delaying action and allowing preventable deaths to continue.

The report says nearly one million stillbirths occur in Africa each year, accounting for about half of the global total.

It emphasises that many stillbirths are preventable through better antenatal care, skilled attendance at birth and stronger emergency services. But it also makes clear that when deaths do occur, the response matters just as much.

“When stillbirth rates remain high, they reflect gaps in quality of care, delays in emergency response, shortages of skilled health workers, and weaknesses in data and accountability,” Dr Lucy Mazyanga says. She is the regional director, Eastern Africa regional coordinating centre, at the Africa CDC.