Approximately 7,000 stillbirths happen worldwide every day, with 98% of these occurring in middle and low-income countries, says a report published in The Lancet.
The report also emphasises that improved clinical care and pregnancy/birth monitoring could cut this number drastically, by as much as 50% by 2020.
"Care at birth will give us the biggest return and saves mothers, newborns and children," Dr Joy Lawn of Save the Children informed the BBC in an interview.
"Another really missed opportunity is treating syphilis during pregnancy and particularly in southern Africa, syphilis still kills babies and we estimate that around 136,000 stillbirths could be averted every year and that's at relatively low cost - it's about making your antenatal clinic services work.
"Other critical things would be treating hypertension in pregnancy, identifying diabetes in women who are pregnant and managing that better and then identifying babies that aren't growing well."
Countries such as Columbia, China, Mexico and Argentina have shown the way forward for the rest of the world, as their preventive measures have reduced stillbirth rates by 40% to 50% in recent years.