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Background Despite improvements in maternity healthcare services over the last few decades, more than 2.7 million babies worldwide are stillborn each year. The global health agenda is silent about stillbirth, perhaps, in part, because its wider impact has not been systematically analysed or understood before now across the world. Our study aimed to systematically review, evaluate and summarise the current evidence regarding the psychosocial impact of stillbirth to parents and their families, with the aim of improving guidance in bereavement care worldwide. Methods Systematic review and meta-summary (quantitative aggregation of qualitative findings) of quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-methods studies. All languages and countries were included. Results Two thousand, six hundred and nineteen abstracts were identified; 144 studies were included. Frequency effect sizes (FES %) were calculated for each theme, as a measure of their prevalence in the literature. Themes ranged from negative psychological symptoms post bereavement (77 · 1) and in subsequent pregnancies (27 · 1), to disenfranchised grief (31 · 2), and incongruent grief (28 · 5), There was also impact on siblings (23 · 6) and on the wider family (2 · 8). They included mixed-feelings about decisions made when the baby died (12 · 5), avoidance of memories (13 · 2), anxiety over other children (7 · 6), chronic pain and fatigue (6 · 9), and a different approach to the use of healthcare services (6 · 9). Some themes were particularly prominent in studies of fathers; grief suppression (avoidance)(18 · 1), employment difficulties, financial debt (5 · 6), and increased substance use (4 · 2). Others found in studies specific to mothers included altered body image (3 · 5) and impact on quality of life (2 · 1). Counter-intuitively, Some themes had mixed connotations. These included parental pride in the baby (5 · 6), motivation for engagement in healthcare improvement (4 · 2) and changed approaches to life and death

Liberal thought is embroiled in an endless philosophical debate. This debate is precipitated by inherent tensions in liberalism that appears to be irreconcilable with its end of individual freedom. The two main contenders in the debate are the "classic" and "progressive" liberals. The point of philosophical tension between the two groups is in regards to the proper parameters of government. The "classic" liberals argue that the government in a liberal state must be limited, while the "progressive" liberals assert the need for government intervention in the economy as a means of creating an even playing field for all individuals. The underpinnings of the debate are present in the initial liberal discourse and writing and have grown in scope in the twentieth century, culminating in a wealth of literature and the birth of liberal criticism. Liberal critics have had a significant impact on the interpretation and accept nce of liberalism as a useful political theory. They argue that liberalism is unable to meet its end of individual freedom, in either its "classic" or "progressive" forms. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)