Our staff is undertaking analysis for this metric. Please check back later.
Disclaimer / Limitations
This country’s legal measures were reviewed by our legal staff in consultation with in-country lawyers and/or CRVS legal experts. All efforts were made to ensure the accuracy of the legal analysis, however, if you consider there to be any discrepancies or if there have been changes in the law of the country since our staff last updated the legal analysis, we welcome any additional information or insights. Please contact us via this form.
Stillbirth Reporting
Bolivia
Responsive Image
Bolivia
Stillbirth Reporting
Reporting through the Civil Registration System
Reporting through the Civil Registration System
Compulsory coverage
Is stillbirth registration available and compulsory for all stillbirths occuring within the country's jurisdiction?
Recommended Practice based on International Guidelines
Tracking stillbirths and other fetal deaths is important for statistical and public health planning purposes. Official recognition that the fetal death occurred can have significance for families and can help to facilitate cremation and burial if the family desires. If stillbirths are recorded via the civil registration system, then the law should require that all stillbirths are registered, in same way as live births and deaths. This means that an informant is legally designated with a dury to notifiy a stillbirth. Where they are recoded via the health sector, the system is often managed through guidelines and SOPs rather than via a law. However, those guidelines may be mandatory for the releavnt health instiutions or medical professionals.
Who is the designated primary informant for declaring stillbirths to the civil registrar?
Recommended Practice based on International Guidelines
UN guidelines provide that, in priority order of preference, the informant for a fetal death is the same as for a live birth: first, the head of the health facility (for a fetal death that occurred in a health facility) or the birth attendant (for a fetal death that occurred outside a health facility with a birth attendant); second, the mother; third, the father; fourth the nearest relative of the mother; and fifth, any other adult person having knowledge of the facts.
What is the role of the health sector in stillbirth registration?
Recommended Practice based on International Guidelines
UN guidelines provide that the head of the health facility is the preferred informant for stillbirths. Where the stillbirths are registered via the civil registration system this should be specified in the law. As with live births, some countries require the health sector to notify information about stillbirths even where the designated informant is the mother and/or father. Where the mother and/or father is the primary informant, the health sector would usually be required under the law to provide a notice of some sort as evidence of the stillbirth for the purposes of registration.
Recommended Practice based on International Guidelines
If fetal deaths are reported through the civil registration system, the health facility, birth attendant or other informant should report a fetal death to the registration office in the location where the fetal death occurred, or at any location where access is available to the registration system, if the system is sufficiently networked. Where registration is required at the place of residence of the mother, this may reduce the rates of registration.
What is the reporting period for stillbirth registrations specified under the law?
Recommended Practice based on International Guidelines
The time frame for reporting a fetal death is usually the same as that for a death. There should, however, be a procedure for late and delayed reporting pending a medical-legal decision if the fetal death status is unclear or disputed.
Does the civil register contain a separate register for stillbirths, distinct from birth and death registers?
Recommended Practice based on International Guidelines
UN guidelines indicate that stillbirths should not be registered in the birth register or the death register, as they do not establish a legal identity, retire a legal identity or affect civil status. Including stillbirths in those registers can also make it harder to disaggregate the data for statistical purposes. Instead it is recommended that a separate register of stillbirths is established. However, some countries with digital systems do include stillbirths in the register of births .
Recommended Practice based on International Guidelines
No fee should be charged for the timely registration of a live birth, marriage, divorce, fetal death or death
To encourage registration, the legislation should clearly state that registration of a birth, fetal death and death within the time period prescribed by the law is free of charge.
Does the law require that funeral, burial and cremation services request proof of stillbirth registration or reporting?
Yes
Recommended Practice based on International Guidelines
In countries that record stillbirths via the civil registration system, and where the mother and/or father is the designated informant, the provider of the funeral, burial or cremation service may be required to request proof that the stillbirth was reported to the registrar or the health system before final disposition.
In the case of stillbirths, the funeral services require the mourner or interested party to request the funeral services, showing the medical certificate of perinatal death.
Law Source
Does the law require that health facility or health professional attending a stillbirth record or equivalent document to facilitate burial or cremation?
Recommended Practice based on International Guidelines
If reporting takes place through the health sector
only, the health facility should provide a medical record of the fetal death to the parents, if needed for burial or cremation of the fetus
