More than 3 million babies around the world are born dead every year, even though most of these deaths could be avoided, according to a new study.

In a paper published online by the Lancet medical journal today, researchers in South Africa and the US warn that the true figure may be much higher, saying that without reliable statistics on stillbirths, health workers are left "stumbling around in the dark".

Joy Lawn of the Saving Newborn Lives Initiative in Cape Town and Cindy Stanton of Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, used data from 103 countries.