This is disturbing.

According to a brand new study, poverty could increase your risk of having a stillborn baby. In fact, researchers at Tommy’s Maternal and Fetal Health Research Centre at the University of Manchester in the UK discovered that poorer pregnant women are three times more likely to have stillborn babies – and abusive relationships, stress and unemployment all increase the risk, too. The UK-based scientists studied more than 1,000 births across the country and found that psychological stress, deprivation and unemployment are all big risk factors. Most importantly, they also discovered that attending more antenatal appointments can reduce that risk. In fact, the researchers found that women who received increased antenatal care had a astonishing 72 percent lower riskof having a stillborn baby than mothers who just followed the national guidelines dictate. Speaking to Netmums, Cardiff-based mum Sophie Tugwell explained she had check-ups every other day for almost a month after a routine scan showed her baby was very small, and credits this extra care with the safe arrival of her now seven-month-old son. "If the hospital hadn’t kept such a close eye on us, I might have never had the chance to come home with a baby." Talking about the groundbreaking study, chief executive at Tommy's, Jane Brewin, explains: "One in 250 UK pregnancies end in stillbirth, and while attending antenatal appointments can reduce the risk, this research shows that stillbirth is not a problem we can solve with healthcare alone. The complex relationships identified here between stillbirth and social stresses make it clear that the Government’s prevention strategy must extend beyond the NHS to tackle these deeper underlying issues within society."