The National Institutes of Health on Tuesday launched a new initiative to reduce the rate of stillbirths in the United States.

The National Institutes of Health (headquarters pictured in March in Bethesda, MD) said Tuesday more than 60% of the nearly 24,000 annual U.S. stillbirth cases "remain unexplained" as it unveiled a new federal "Stillbirth Research Consortium" with five American institutions in its effort to cut back on the number of preventable U.S. stillbirths in women.File Photo by Annabelle Gordon/UPI UPI According to U.S. health officials, America's 60% stillbirth rate remains even after the exclusion of common causes, such as congenital abnormalities, genetic factors and obstetric complications. Stillbirth is still "considerably" higher in the Black community and America's native and indigenous Alaskan population. File Photo by Terry Schmitt/UPI UPI

Sept. 16 (UPI) -- The National Institutes of Health on Tuesday launched a new initiative to reduce the rate of stillbirths in the United States.

The NIH said more than 60% of the nearly 24,000 annual U.S. stillbirth cases "remain unexplained" as it unveiled a new federal Stillbirth Research Consortium. The consortium is backed by five American health institutions and is designed to reduce the number of preventable U.S. stillbirths.

"This consortium will provide an integrated, collaborative program to support cutting edge research to identify the root causes of stillbirth and inform evidence-based strategies to address stillbirth risks," according to Dr. Alison Cernich, acting director of NIH's Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.

On Tuesday, NIH said the agency will fund the consortium in a $37 million infusion of federal money for a five-year period with other possible streams of federal funding via HHS to develop tools, devices and other technologies that have the potential to "affect diagnosis and prevention efforts."

The consortium will consist of four research centers and a data coordinating center with the Data Coordinating Center at RTI International in North Carolina, the Center for Stillbirth Prevention Center at the University of California in San Diego and Columbia University's stillbirth research center.

...

In addition, Dr. Robert Silver will lead the University of Utah's Stillbirth Research Center in the consortium, along with the Portland-based Oregon Health & Science University's NOURISH research center led by Dr. Karen Gibbins, an assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology, and Dr. Leslie Myatt, a professor and director of perinatal research in Oregon.

According to government data, a stillbirth occurs 1 in every 160 deliveries and in about 23,600 stillbirths at 20 weeks or greater gestation are reported annually in the United States.

Health experts, meanwhile, say that roughly 40% of stillbirths during labor are considered "potentially preventable."

"Too many families needlessly face the grief of stillbirth," Cernich added in a statement.

U.S. health officials said the 60% stillbirth rate remained even after the exclusion of common causes, such as congenital abnormalities, genetic factors and obstetric complications. Stillbirth is still "considerably" higher in the Black community and America's native and indigenous Alaskan population, they say.

They added that women who have experienced a stillbirth are almost five times more likely to experience another stillbirth or other complication.