Infection is an important cause of stillbirths worldwide: in low-income and middle-income countries, 50% of stillbirths or more are probably caused by infection. By contrast, in high-income countries only 10–25% of stillbirths are caused by infection. Syphilis, where prevalent, causes most infectious stillbirths, and is the infection most amenable to screening and treatment. Ascending bacterial infection is a common cause of stillbirths, but prevention has proven elusive. Many viral infections cause stillbirths but aside from vaccination for common childhood diseases, we do not have a clear prevention strategy.