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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
Papua New Guinea
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Papua New Guinea
Stillbirth Reporting
Reporting System
Reporting System
Compulsory Coverage
Is stillbirth registration available and compulsory for all stillbirths occurring within the country's jurisdiction?
Compulsory for all stillbirths
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, the law should require that all stillbirths that occur in the country are registered.
The Civil and Identity Registration Act requires that fetal deaths in Papua New Guinea be reported through the civil registration system. Registration of fetal death is mandatory for fetuses with at least 20 weeks age of gestation or weighing more than 500 grams.
Does the law mandate reporting of all stillbirths through the health sector?
Unclear
Recommended Practice based on International Guidelines
Tracking stillbirths and other fetal deaths is important for statistical and public health planning. If stillbirths are tracked through the health sector, the law (or guidelines and SOPs) should require the health sector to report fetal deaths to the central health ministry. For in-facility stillbirths, reporting responsibility should fall on the head of the health facility or attending medical professional. For community stillbirths, reporting responsibility is place on the birth attendant, who may be required to report the ministry of health directly, or may report through a local health facility.
Analysis of the legal instruments available to the reviewer did not identify any provisions relevant to this question. However, in practice, stillbirths are recorded as part of the country’s National Health Information System – which is in the process of being converted from a paper-based system to an electronic one.
Law Source
Informant
Who is the designated primary informant for declaring stillbirths to the civil registrar?
Head of health facility
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.
The duty of notification for fetal deaths is the same as for live births. The primary notifier (informant) for a fetal death that takes place at a health facility is the head of that health facility.
The primary notifier (informant) for a fetal death that occurs at a place other than a health facility is the medical attendant who assisted, or, where there was no medical attendant, the mother or father.
The definition of "health facilities" is very broad, covering both public and private persons andorganizations providing health care and related services.
What is the role of the health sector in stillbirth registration?
Informant, Issuing of evidence of stillbirth
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.
In terms of Section 23(2) of the Civil and Identity Registration Act, where a fetal death takes place at a health facility, the head of that health facility is the primary notifier (informant). Where a fetal death occurs at a place other than a health facility, the medical attendant who assisted is the primary notifier (informant).
In terms of Section 41(2) of the Act, where a fetal death has occurred with medical attendance, the medical attendant who was responsible for the care of the mother at the birth or who examined the fetus must complete and sign a medical certificate certifying the cause of the fetal death to the best of that medical attendant’s knowledge and belief.
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?
21 days
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?
Yes
Recommended Practice based on International Guidelines
Stillbirth should be registered in a separate fetal death (or stillbirth) register. 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, with a a notation that the event is a stillbirth to allow for disaggregation.
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.
Section 79 of the Civil and Identity Registration Act allows for fees to be imposed for fetal death registration, but no fees for this have been prescribed as of January 2026.
