Seminar on Stillbirths and Miscarriage
“Cross-cultural, psychological, and social perspectives on stillbirths and miscarriages in low and high income countries”
Seminar Overview
At Baltimore, Maryland, USA, the Center for Learning and Childhood Development-Ghana, the International Center for Maternal and Newborn Health and Social and Behavioral Interventions Program in the Department of International Health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health organized a seminar on stillbirth and miscarriage
The primary goal of the seminar to increase awareness and promote research on the psyhosocial impacts of stillbirths and miscarriages. Stillbirths and miscarriages occur often and have significant mental health consequences on affected parents and families. Thus, our public health research and practice should reflect this and expand to improve the bereavement experiences and address the mental health aftermath of such loss. A secondary goal of the seminar was to also foster collaboration between researchers at Hopkins and Center for Learning and Childhood Development and the Hope Restoration Centers in Ghana to work on stillbirth prevention and management.
CLCD played a significant role in organizing and participating in the seminar. CLCD's Director, Mr. Kwame Sakyi led a planning team at Hopkins to organize the seminar and co-moderated the panel discussion. CLCD's Board Member and Greater Accra Regional Director of Health, Dr. Linda Vanotoo was also one of the speakers at the seminar. Dr. Vanotoo highlighted the significant burden of stillbirths in Ghana, with the Greater Accra Region alone recording about 2000 stillbirths a year. She further spoke about government of Ghana's effort to address the psychosocial needs of women and their families who experience stillbirth through the Hope Restoration Center.
Over 60 people attended the conference.
