According to a meta-analysis conducted by UK researchers, chances of having another stillbirth are higher for women who experienced a stillbirth before.

Stillbirth refers to foetal death at more than 20 weeks' gestation. Although its rates have fallen across many countries, it is still a major public health concern.

Four studies examined persistent unexplained stillbirth. All four studies found that the risk of stillbirth heightens after an initial one. Three studies reported at least a threefold increase in stillbirth.

Study’s co-author Sohinee Bhattacharya of the University of Aberdeen said that although unexplained stillbirth accounts for up to 40% of all stillbirth, its reasons are unknown.

An earlier study on stillbirth recurrence was published by her colleagues. However, it could not find a definitive answer. She hopes that analyzing other studies might provide more information about recurrent stillbirth.

She said, “There is not a lot in the published literature regarding the risk of recurrent unexplained stillbirth. What evidence there is can be conflicting and inconsistent”.

Data was collected from about 3.4 million women out of whom, 24,541 had experienced a stillbirth and become pregnant again.

All the women were from high-income countries, including Australia, Scotland, the US, Denmark, Israel, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden.

It was found that stillbirths occurred in a subsequent pregnancy for 14,283 women, 606 of whom had an initial stillbirth.