Has the Campaign to Lower Early-Term Birth Rates Affected Risk for Stillbirth?

Reductions in non–medically indicated deliveries before 39 completed weeks' gestation have been advocated by national organizations and are now considered a measure of obstetric care quality. However, concerns have been raised that campaigns to limit these early elective deliveries may raise risk for stillbirth. Now, two teams of investigators have examined national fetal death and live birth data from the period spanning the recommendation of this change in practice.

Both groups documented a nationwide decrease in the number of early-term births (37 0/7 – 38 6/7 weeks), though reductions varied widely by state. Neither group found a concurrent change in the overall rate of term stillbirths. One group showed that stillbirth rates by race and…