Stillbirth is the death of an unborn baby that has been in the mother’s womb for more than 20 weeks. More than 25,000 babies are stillborn in the United States each year.**
- Almost 50 percent of these deaths occur at or near full term and often seem to be otherwise healthy babies. The majority of stillbirths (85%) occur before delivery with 15% occurring during labor and delivery.
- It is estimated that nearly two-thirds of all stillbirth deaths remain unexplained. Researchers feel that this is more likely due to a failure to investigate the deaths, rather than a medical mystery.
- Stillbirth deaths cut across all socio-economic classes, races, religions and maternal age groups. No woman is immune.
- Some of the more common diagnosable causes for stillbirth are: placental abruption and other placental problems, cord accidents, birth defects and chromosomal abnormalities, uncontrolled diabetes or high blood pressure, pre-eclampsia and infections.
- The risk factors for stillbirth include: advanced maternal age, prior stillbirth, obesity, smoking, diabetes, high blood pressure and previous fetal or neonatal death.
- After a stillbirth, few hospitals offer an autopsy, placental exam or clinical testing to the parents to determine the cause of death. Ensuring that these procedures are performed on every stillborn baby is critical if we are to develop preventive strategies for future babies.
- Mothers who suffer a stillbirth do not receive recognition in 25 out of 50 states. There is no certificate of birth – making these births “invisible.”
** ERICA'S NOTE: Please note that there is no universally-accepted medical standard for differentiating between miscarriage and stillbirth. Official classification is still left up to the individual attending physician, so absolute, hard data is difficult to acquire. Until the medical community comes up with and implements a universal standard, research in this field is challenging and data is somewhat compromised.
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