Severe stress during pregnancy can almost double the risk of having a stillbirth, say researchers.
A Danish study of 19,000 women during the last three months of pregnancy found that a third scored highly for stress.

Of the women in this group, 29 - or 0.5% - had stillbirths after 28 weeks.
In both the intermediate and low stress groups, the stillbirth rate was around 0.3%.

Although the figures are small, the researchers say the difference is significant.

Dr Kirsten Wisborg, from Aarhus University Hospital, told New Scientist magazine: "We don't yet know for sure whether stress may directly cause stillbirth, but our results are enough for doctors and midwives to be concerned.

"Thankfully, stillbirth is a rare event. But we still do not know what causes it and any clues we find can help us reduce the risks."

Studies of monkeys suggest that stress hormones might reduce blood flow to the placenta, thereby restricting the supply of oxygen to the foetus.

Although the effect is small, it could tip the balance if the baby has any other problems.

The study only examined the effect of recent increases in stress. Chronic stress may lead to more stillbirths, according to Dr Wisborg.

Pregnant women in Africa can reduce their risk of miscarriage or still birth by up to a third by sleeping under insecticide-treated bed nets.
The UK scientific research is likely to bolster calls for treated mosquito nets to be made more widely available to pregnant women and children in Africa.
Malaria is a preventable disease that kills more than 1m people a year, 90% of them in Africa - mostly children.