Mothers with mental illness history 'more likely to have stillborn babies'

Women with a history of serious mental illness are more likely to have babies that are stillborn or die within the first month of life, according to research published today.

The study, from the University of Manchester and Aarhus University in Denmark, found that the risk of stillbirth for women with schizophrenia was twice as high than for healthy mothers, while women with ’affective’ disorders such as bipolar disorder were more than twice as likely to give birth to stillborn babies.