Many stillbirths are linked to complications with the placenta. The placenta is the organ that links the baby's blood supply to the mother's and nourishes the baby in the womb. If there have been problems with the placenta, stillborn babies are usually born perfectly formed, although often small.
The cause is not always known (1 in 3 stillbirths cannot be explained), but the most likely causes include: Problems with the placenta and/or the umbilical cord. Your placenta is an organ that lines your uterus when you're pregnant. Through it and the umbilical cord, the fetus gets blood, oxygen and nutrients.
The biggest nongenetic risk factors for a stillbirth in the United States are being an older mother; expecting more than one baby; having no other children; smoking; using drugs or alcohol; and having obesity, diabetes (gestational or not) or high blood pressure, according to the American College of Obstetricians and ...
An early stillbirth is a fetal death occurring between 20 and 27 completed weeks of pregnancy. A late stillbirth occurs between 28 and 36 completed pregnancy weeks. A term stillbirth occurs between 37 or more completed pregnancy weeks.
The most common symptom of stillbirth is when you stop feeling your baby moving and kicking. Others include cramps, pain or bleeding from the vagina. Call your health care provider right away or go to the emergency room if you have any of these conditions.
Stillbirth in Australia
In Australia, 6 babies are stillborn each day, affecting more than 2,000 Australian families each year.
Many physicians advise pregnant women to sleep on their left side. Previous studies have linked back and right-side sleeping with a higher risk of stillbirth, reduced fetal growth, low birth weight, and preeclampsia, a life-threatening high blood pressure disorder that affects the mother.
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.
Review shows key predictors for use in developing models predicting stillbirth include age, prior pregnancy outcome and PAPP-A, PLGF and Uterine artery Doppler.
High levels of perceived stress were shown to double the risk of stillbirth (3.57% vs 1.17%) independent of other social factors and pregnancy complications that can put pressure on mothers.
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.
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.
After a fetus dies, labour will usually begin on its own within 2 weeks. Many women don't want to wait that long. They choose to have labour induced. This means going to the hospital and, usually, getting medicine that starts the labour process.
Stillbirths in the United States
In 2006, the most recent year for which U.S. data are available, 1 out of every 167 pregnancies that made it to the 20th week ended with the death of the fetus before birth (that is, stillbirth before delivery). This translates to a total of nearly 26,000 deaths.
A stillbirth is when a baby is born dead after 24 completed weeks of pregnancy. It happens in around 1 in every 200 births in England. If the baby dies before 24 completed weeks, it's known as a miscarriage or late foetal loss.
Researchers explore how maternal sleep habits during pregnancy may be associated with fetal health. Sleeping more than nine hours per night during pregnancy may be associated with late stillbirth, a new study suggests.
There are some studies that have found a small link between stillbirth and sleep position, but overall, there is no compelling evidence that occasionally or accidentally sleeping on your baby during pregnancy will hurt your fetus.
Women who had a caesarean delivery had a higher risk of miscarriage, stillbirth and placental problems in future pregnancies than women who had a vaginal delivery. All but one study was observational, so we cannot be sure whether delivery method causes these outcomes.
If there's no medical reason for your baby to be born straightaway, it may be possible to wait for labour to start naturally. You might not need to decide this immediately. You may be able to go home for a day or two first. In some cases, you might be offered medicine to help induce labour.
Most babies (92%) in Australia are born at term (37–41 weeks), with 32% at early term (37 or 38 weeks) and 60% at full term (39–41 weeks).