The Stillbirth Foundation Australia supports organisations and institutions undertaking research into the cause, prevention and management of stillbirth. Since 2018, Stillbirth Foundation Australia has continued this support in partnership with the Stillbirth CRE, considering applications that addressed any aspect of stillbirth however.
Priority is given to rigorously designed clinical studies that address unexplained stillbirth, are designed to provide a greater understanding to prevent stillbirth of a known cause or contributing factors or enabled best practice among staff caring for families who experience stillbirth.
In 2020, the Stillbirth Foundation Australia/Stillbirth CRE grants were awarded to a world-first study into the endometrial environment in women who experience a preterm birth or preterm stillbirth; and a population study of more than 1.5 million Australian women, examining and identifying pregnancies that have a higher risk of ending in an early stillbirth. Both projects will support the development of practical prevention measures aimed at ending preventable stillbirths
In 2019, grants were awarded to a clinical trial for a wearable patch to monitor babies’ movements in utero, best-practice bereavement care guidelines for parents and clinicians, and a brand-new study on birth and labour through grief.
In 2018, the major grant of $120,000 was awarded jointly to the University of Adelaide and the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute to reduce stillbirth in migrant and refugee populations. The minor research grant of $40,000 was awarded to Mater Research Institute to develop guidelines for perinatal bereavement care.
