Dr Lorena Suarez and Mr Yohanis Alemeshet, research degree students from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, alongside Dr Hannah Blencowe, attended ISA and presented some of their recent research.

This year’s ISA exemplified a bridge between maternal and child health research areas and united researchers, clinicians, bereaved parents, policymakers, and international organisations under the theme "Leaving no country behind: Moving beyond awareness to action to save babies."

Across the four-day conference, delegates from across the globe shared research, highlighted key priorities and discussed future challenges. There were a number of interesting sessions which created stimulating discussions and inspired us for our future research.  

One session, which focused on how South Asian countries have effectively decreased their stillbirth and newborn mortality rates to meet the Sustainable Development Goals of less than 12 deaths per 1000 births, was one of the conference's inspiring elements. Their success illustrates invaluable lessons for countries like Ethiopia, which are currently not on the right track to achieve the Every Newborn Action Plan (ENAP), as well as those such as Mexico, which has reached this goal nationally but still faces significant disparities in the subnational picture. For example, in 2022, even though the national stillbirth rate was calculated at nine stillbirths per 1000 total births, this rate ranged from 12.3 in Chiapas, a state with very high social deprivation, to 5.5 in Sinaloa, a state with low social deprivation. The session revealed how focused interventions and improved healthcare systems can produce substantial change everywhere.

The conference's session on bereavement care, which is often limited in low-income settings, was eye-opening. The discussions among bereaved parents and presentations from researchers showed how implementing structured bereavement care can help families who have lost a baby during pregnancy. The session stressed the importance of continuing care in the community after loss. Further, a memorial service at Independence Square in Colombo brought together families, researchers, and religious leaders to remember stillborn and neonatal deaths, providing a sacred space for families.

A symposium at the conference also highlighted the power of Artificial Intelligence in stillbirth prevention. The discussions underlined the potential of quality data and artificial intelligence by improving risk prediction, early detection of complications, and strengthening informed decision-making.

Reflecting on the opportunity to present their research. 

Dr Lorena Suarez, said: “Presenting our research in front of well-known maternal and child health experts was remarkable. The questions and dialogue that followed, both during and after the presentation, were enriching and helped us to broaden our views while answering our research questions."

Mr Yohanis Alemeshet, said: “This experience not only boosted our confidence in communicating our findings as junior researchers, but also opened doors for potential international collaborations. I look forward to continuing our work to help reduce stillbirth and newborn mortality”

Looking forward, Dr Lorena Suarez and Mr Yohanis Alemeshet are excited to incorporate these new perspectives into their ongoing work, particularly adapting successful interventions from South Asia to low-income settings while developing locally appropriate bereavement care protocols. This conference experience has emphasised the significance of global knowledge exchange for advancing maternal and child health research, especially in areas where stillbirths and neonatal mortality rates are high.

Dr Lorena presented Stillbirth Risk by fetal size amongst 126,543,070 million births in 15 countries from 2000 to 2020: a fetuses-at-risk approach. Meanwhile, Mr. Yohanis shared his findings on Causes of Perinatal Mortality in Eastern Ethiopia: An Extrapolation of Gold Standard Causes of Death from Child Health and Mortality Prevention Surveillance.