Migrant and refugee women have double the risk of stillbirth compared with the general Australian population, researchers say.

Overcoming communication barriers is key to reducing stillbirths in the population groups at most risk, including immigrants and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women.

More than 80,000 women who give birth in Australia each year come from non-English-speaking backgrounds, said the research team, led by Associate Professor Jane Yelland, from the University of Melbourne.

These women often faced social isolation and economic disadvantage, the researchers wrote in the Medical Journal of Australia.