Some parents decide to take their baby home with them. Legally you can do this, unless a coroner or procurator fiscal has ordered a post-mortem. Ask your midwife for information about taking your baby home. You will need to fill in a form and find out how best to keep your baby cool at home.
Your baby will be kept safely in the hospital mortuary or the funeral home until the burial or cremation. Don't feel pressured to make decisions before you are ready. If you have a partner, it can be difficult if you want different things.
Most pregnant people with a stillbirth have their providers induce labor soon after they learn of their baby's death. If you decide to wait to go into labor on your own and it doesn't happen by 2 weeks after your baby's death, your provider may induce labor to help prevent dangerous blood clots from developing.
Like the two earlier papers, this report provides surprisingly encouraging data. Most babies born unexpectedly without a heartbeat can be successfully resuscitated in the delivery room. Of those successfully resuscitated, 48% survive with normal outcome or mild-moderate disability.
After a stillbirth
A specialist midwife will talk with you about what you want to do – for example, holding the baby or taking photographs. They can also discuss the tests you may be offered to find out why your baby died and give you information about registering the birth.
When a baby dies while still in the uterus, this may also be called fetal loss. A doctor may deliver the baby by giving you medicine to start labor. Or you may have a procedure called D&E (dilation and evacuation).
After the baby is stillborn
After a stillbirth, many parents want to see and hold their baby. It's entirely up to you whether you wish to do so. You'll be given some quiet time with your baby if this is what you want.
Stillbirth can be diagnosed by ultrasound examination to show that the baby's heart is no longer beating. After delivery, the baby is found to be stillborn if there are no signs of life such as breathing, heartbeat, and movements.
During this time, you should use sanitary pads, not tampons, to minimize the risk of infection. You should also avoid taking baths for the same reason. After a vaginal delivery with a full- or near-term stillbirth, you may have swelling and soreness of your vulva and perineum.
After a stillbirth, health care providers will try to determine why the fetus died and help the family cope with their loss. Later on, if the family wants to try for another pregnancy, providers can help the mother understand and change any problems that might increase her risk of another stillbirth.
What causes a stillbirth? There can be a number of reasons why a baby is stillborn however sometimes a cause cannot be found. In Australia, the major causes of stillbirth are infection, the health of the mother, bleeding, a premature labour that cannot be stopped or an abnormality with the developing baby.
Some states may allow burial of a baby on private property, but others do not - be sure to check with local burial officials if you want to bury a baby in your yard. If you belong to a church, you can ask your pastor or priest to conduct a burial ceremony for the baby.
At or after 40 weeks, the risk of stillbirth increases, especially for women 35 or older. Their risk, research shows, is doubled from 39 weeks to 40 and is more than six times as high at 42 weeks.
Waiting for spontaneous expulsion is also possible. Women who retain the dead embryo/fetus can experience severe blood loss or develop an infection of the womb. These are rare complications.
5 Even if you don't decide to name your miscarried or stillborn baby right away, if you want to choose a name later on, that's up to you.
Many doctors and midwives recommend waiting about 4 to 6 weeks. This gives your body time to heal. Some women want to try to get pregnant again. Your doctor or midwife can tell you when it is safe.
Conclusions. Parents who experience stillbirth have a considerably higher risk of reporting symptoms of depression, anxiety, and PTSD compared with parents with live births.
How Many Babies Are Stillborn? Stillbirth affects about 1 in 175 births, and each year about 21,000 babies are stillborn in the United States. That is about the same as the number of babies that die during the first year of life.
Stillbirth in Australia
In Australia, 6 babies are stillborn each day, affecting more than 2,000 Australian families each year.
Stillbirth gives rise to societal, psychological and physical challenges. Both parents can be significantly affected by the stillbirth of their baby, often experiencing grief, anxiety, fear and suffering, even if they may not express these emotions outwardly or immediately.
“My heart goes out to you as you grieve for the baby you were so looking forward to meeting. I'll be thinking of both of you in the days and weeks ahead and checking in to see if there's anything helpful I can do.” “Please be gentle with yourself right now and grieve however you need to.”
Studies have shown that if you've had a stillbirth, you are at an increased risk of complications in a future pregnancy. This is why the extra care is so important.