Background
3.2 million stillbirths occur globally each year. 70% of these stillbirths are in Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. At the Mulago Hospital in Uganda, approximately five women suffer from intrauterine foetal death or stillbirth every day. The hospital’s high patient to birth attendant ratio, limited space in the delivery room and constrained resources means the bereaved parents often don’t get enough care, leaving them with many unanswered questions. There is a need for clinical guidelines to ensure that these parents get quality treatment and appropriate psychosocial support.

About the project
This project was created to improve the care given to women, and their partners, who suffer from intrauterine foetal death (IUFD) or stillbirth at Mulago Hospital. The project team trained the hospital staff on the management of parents affected by IUFD or stillbirth and developed guidelines for how to treat these patients at the hospital. After finalizing and presenting these guidelines, the team offered one-on-one mentoring sessions for the hospital staff to further improve their capacity to provide high quality care for this group of patients.

Results
The guidelines written by the project team, titled Foetal Deaths and Stillbirths – Diagnosis, Delivery and Documentation Guideline, have been embraced by the hospital administration and fully integrated in the routine care of patients suffering from IUFD or stillbirth for the first time. 19 midwives and 15 postgraduate students were trained by the team during the project and the participants’ written assessments show that their knowledge on quality care increased after the training.

Year: 2014