Midwife calls for action as new $100 million UZIMA program targets stillbirth reduction

Jacqueline Dunkley-Bent, chief midwife of the International Confederation of Midwives, recalled her first stillbirth experience and used it to illustrate the silent crisis of two million annual stillbirths. At the World Health Summit in Berlin, the Gates Foundation and Wellcome Leap unveiled UZIMA, a $100 million program designed to halve stillbirths in participating countries through new monitoring technologies and artificial-intelligence solutions.

Anita Zaidi of the Gates Foundation emphasized the goal of preventing all preventable maternal and newborn deaths. Dunkley-Bent cautioned that innovations must be paired with robust health systems, noting a global shortfall of nearly one million midwives. She highlighted that most stillbirths occur in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, where access to prenatal care and education on fetal movements is limited. The initiative aims to improve early detection of complications and ensure timely care for high-risk pregnancies.