Stillbirth Causes Among Migrants and Refugees on the Thailand-Myanmar Border, 1986-2023

A 37-year retrospective review of 65,101 singleton births, including 721 stillbirths, from the Shoklo Malaria Research Unit between 1986 and 2023. The dataset, created by Taco Jan Prins, tracks the stillbirth rate and classifies causes, showing a decline from 26 to 8 per 1000 births over the study period. It includes data on birth location trends and the top causes of stillbirth, such as antepartum haemorrhage.

Use Cases

• Analyze temporal trends in stillbirth rates based on the 37-year time series from 1986 to 2023.
• Investigate associations between birth location (home vs. clinic) and stillbirth outcomes based on the described shift from 80% to 10-15% home births.
• Model risk factors for antepartum versus intrapartum stillbirth based on the classification of 574 cases.
• Study the prevalence of specific stillbirth causes, such as antepartum haemorrhage, congenital abnormality, and maternal infection, based on the causal classification of 488 cases.

Strengths

• Covers a long-term period of 37 years (1986-2023).
• Includes a substantial population of 65,101 singleton births.
• Provides specific stillbirth rates per 1000 births for different time intervals.
• Classifies 79.5% of stillbirths (574/721) as antepartum or intrapartum.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data may reflect geographic and temporal bias inherent to a single research unit's records.

Provenance

Source

Shoklo Malaria Research Unit antenatal clinics.

Collection Method

Retrospective review of medical records.

Time Range

1986 to 2023

Freshness

Last updated 2026-05-12 17:41:41; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Border regions between Thailand and Myanmar.