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Health officials announced a new target of reducing stillbirths by at least half by 2020. They estimate they will need $10 billion a year for comprehensive health packages for pregnant women and their babies.
For Samantha Baker, who had a stillborn daughter, Scarlett, any efforts to understand why stillbirths happen and how to avoid them are welcome. Baker said Scarlett's umbilical cord twisted around her neck and suffocated her when she went into labor.
"I can't think of a worse tragedy to happen to expecting parents," she said. Baker, an accountant in Kent, south of London, now works with Sands, a British charity that supports families affected by stillbirths.
Baker and her husband spent several hours with Scarlett after she was born in December 2009. "The hardest thing was leaving her at the hospital," she said.
Three weeks ago, Baker gave birth to a son, Harry. She and her husband also have an older daughter, Sydney.
She hopes the Lancet series will promote more efforts to reduce stillbirths and provide support for stricken families. "Nobody ever wants to talk about (stillborns) because it's so sad," she said. "But not every pregnancy ends happily."
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