USING THIS GUIDE
Purpose of the guide
This guide is intended to provide technical resources and practical guidance for stillbirth advocacy and programme planning at national and subnational levels. The guide does not present new information but rather brings together existing resources, global guidance and toolkits in one place to inform planning, investments and programmes aimed at ending preventable stillbirths and improving care for all women and families who experience stillbirth. In doing so, gaps in available resources are also highlighted.
Target audience
The target audience of this guide includes:
-
Country-level and subnational governments and stakeholders, including ministries of health, civil registration authorities and national statistics offices.
-
Health-professional organizations including national medical, midwifery and nursing associations and other relevant bodies.
-
Hospital and health facility directors, managers and administrators.
It is anticipated that the guide will also be useful for parents, parent organizations, community leaders, individual clinicians and others who advocate for stillbirth prevention and respectful and supportive care after stillbirth to be integrated along the continuum of maternal and child health care.
Stakeholder level definitions
The content in this guide is sometimes aimed at specific stakeholder levels. The following definitions have been used:
-
Policy level: Includes those who work in ministries or United Nations agencies in-country and make or directly influence policy.
-
Mid-level: Includes those who work in ministries or United Nations agencies in-country but do not make or directly influence policy.
-
Local level: Includes those who do not work in ministries or United Nations agencies, whose work is based in communities (villages, cities, towns).
Types of resources included
Included in this guide are links to global guidelines, toolkits, key initiatives, training resources, data sources and publications about stillbirth and care along the continuum of maternal and child health. Case studies from a wide range of geographical contexts are also included to illustrate what can be achieved.
A colour-coded system has been used to organize specific features of the guide:
-
Blue boxes: reflections, definitions of key terms and key data and their sources (the latter presented as “Data highlights”).
-
Large lavender boxes: case studies, often presented as “Sharing what works”.
-
Green boxes: resource links, presented as “Resources”
-
Aqua boxes: links for further information, presented as “Learn more”.
-
Orange boxes: content specific to bereavement care.
Navigating the document
This guide includes hyperlinks to external web resources, as well as internal hyperlinks to specific sections of the guide itself. To return to your place in the guide when using internal hyperlinks, press ALT+left arrow (PC) or Command+left arrow (Mac) on your keyboard.
Feedback and updates
The International Stillbirth Alliance Stillbirth Advocacy Working Group (ISA-SAWG) welcomes feedback on this guide, as well as suggestions for additional resources to be included in future updates, to sawg@stillbirthalliance.org
Access the guide and corresponding case studies here