Stillbirth: Trying To Understand

According the National Stillbirth Society, stillbirth is defined as the intrauterine death and subsequent delivery of a developing infant that occurs beyond 20 completed weeks of gestation. Stillbirth occurs in about 1 in 160 pregnancies. The majority of stillbirths happen before labor, whereas a small percentage occurs during labor and delivery.

Why do stillbirths happen?

If you have had a stillbirth or are supporting someone through this difficult experience, you probably are in desperate need of knowing why this happened. An autopsy is normally the best way to diagnose a cause for stillbirth, but this is not always a standard procedure. Inquire about your hospitals procedures when handling stillborn babies and the cause of death. If normal procedure is not to have an autopsy, seek to find out how you can request one, if that’s what you and your family desire.

The Most Common Known Causes of Stillbirths Include:

• Placental Problems: Women with placental abruption, or a pregnancy-related form of high blood pressure called preeclampsia or pregnancy induced hypertension, have twice the risk of abruption or stillbirth as unaffected women. Sometimes insufficient oxygen and nutrients can also contribute to a baby’s death.
• Birth Defects: Chromosomal disorders account for 15-20% of all stillborn babies. Sometimes a baby has structural malformations that are not caused by chromosomal abnormalities, but can result from genetic, environmental or unknown causes.
• Growth Restriction: Babies who are small or not growing at an appropriate rate are at risk of death from asphyxia (lack of oxygen) both before and during birth, and from unknown causes.
• Infections: Bacterial infections between 24 and 27 weeks gestation can cause fetal deaths. These infections usually go unnoticed by the mother and may not be diagnosed until they cause serious complications.
• Other infrequent causes of stillbirth include: umbilical cord accidents, trauma, maternal diabetes, high blood pressure and postdate pregnancy (a pregnancy that lasts longer than 42 weeks)

Unfortunately, despite efforts to find out why, the cause can not be determined in about one-third of stillbirths.