Small for gestational age: towards standards of our own

Abstract

Perinatal mortality is accepted as an important performance indicator of the obstetric provision. Stillbirth is a major contributor for the perinatal mortality and is estimate to occur at a rate of 18.9 per 1000 births 1. In year 2009, approximately 2.64 million stillbirths occurred globally, of which 76.2% of stillbirths were in Sub-Saharan Africa and south Asia 1. Stillbirth Collaborative Research Network Writing Group in the United States recognizes stillbirths as one of the most common adverse pregnancy outcomes in the United States where it affects 1 in 160 pregnancies 2, 3. The published perinatal mortality rates in European countries ranged from 5.4 per 1000 total births in Sweden and Finland to 9.7 in Greece and Northern Ireland 4. However, a majority of stillbirths occur in developing countries where the estimated rates of stillbirth are 10-fold or more greater than in developed countries 5 .