Drivers of stillbirth in refugee women in VIC

This project aims to:

Determine the timing and causes of stillbirth among refugee women in Victoria between 2012 and 2018 using the Victorian Perinatal Data collection and CCOPPMM database.
Determine contributing factors to perinatal deaths in refugee women in Victoria using the CCOPPMM database.
Determine disparities in access to and provision of care for migrant women in Victoria using medical records of African born women giving birth at the Monash Health.
Combined these projects will provide evidence for efficacy of clinical practice change to prevent stillbirth by comparing stillbirth rates at sites that have not implemented practice change. The study will also quantify if increased awareness regarding in the relationship between maternal ethnicity and stillbirth has already resulted in practice change by looking at rates of interventions for South Asian born women at non-Monash health sites. The contribution of practice change relating to reduced fetal movements and detection of fetal growth restriction to the decreasing stillbirth rate in South Asian women in Victoria will also be determined. Given changes and increases in migration to Victoria this project will also identify other maternal country of birth groups in Victoria at higher risk of stillbirth. These projects will identify drivers of stillbirth in African born women in Victoria. It will also identify how best to provide care to prevent stillbirth in African born women through qualitative surveys.