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What is stillbirth?
What are stillbirth facts?
What is the frequency of stillbirth compared to SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome)?
What causes stillbirth?
What is "unexplained" stillbirth?
What are some risk factors for "unexplained" stillbirths?
Is stillbirth preventable?
What can you do to reduce the risk of stillbirth?
Where can you get more information about stillbirth prevention information?

1. What is stillbirth?

Stillbirths are the deaths of unborn babies. In the United States, a baby who dies after 20 weeks of pregnancy is considered a stillborn.

2. What are stillbirth facts?

One in every 150 births results in a stillborn. This number may be higher due to lack of consistent standard of stillbirth reporting.
Worldwide, 4.5 million stillbirths occur each year. 12,000 women deliver a stillborn each day. (World Health Organization)
In the U.S., of the 4 million births a year, there are 26,000 stillbirths. 70 women deliver a stillborn each day. (National Institutes of Health)
Stillbirths per year roughly equal all infant deaths during first year of life. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
African-American women have more than twice the risk of stillbirth than that of white women. African-American women 35 years and older have a risk of stillbirth 4-5 times higher than the national average.
60% of fetal deaths happen after 28 weeks gestation. The majority of stillbirths occur at or near full term.
Many stillbirths at term happen in otherwise healthy, low-risk pregnancies.

3. What is the frequency of stillbirth compared to SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome)?

70 lives a day are lost to stillbirth compared to 7 lives a day lost to SIDS. That is a 10 fold difference.

4. What causes stillbirth?

The cause of death for about half of all stillbirths is undetermined or unexplored. There are no standard guidelines for autopsies and data collection when stillbirths occur.

Some of the most common contributing factors for diagnosable stillbirths are:

Bacterial or viral infections
Birth defects and abnormal chromosomes
Placental problems such as bleeding behind placenta "placental abruption"
Umbilical cord knots, twists, and compressions
Intrauterine growth restriction when babies are not growing appropriately

5. What is "unexplained" stillbirth?

Unexplained stillbirths are not unexplored. An unexplained stillbirth happens when thorough postmortem evaluation and autopsies are done and no definitive cause is found. One fourth to half of stillbirths is unexplained. Unexplained stillbirth is the most common category of stillbirth for pregnancy at 28 weeks or later. Fetal deaths do not happen suddenly. Studies show that 50% of unexplained stillbirths are associated with intrauterine growth restriction, where babies are not growing at an appropriate rate; thus there may be a window of opportunity for intervention.

6. What are some risk factors for unexplained stillbirths?

The risk of unexplained stillbirth increases in moms with:

Previous stillbirth
Post-term pregnancy
Cigarette smoking
Advanced maternal age
Pre-pregnancy obesity
Medical conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure, blood clotting disorders when not detected or treated, lupus
African-American descent

Other significant fetal risk factors include:

Growth restricted babies
Severe birth defects
Decreased fetal movement
Decreased blood flow measured by Doppler-ultrasound

7. Is stillbirth preventable?

Prenatal care screening for hypertension and diabetes, advanced maternal age, obesity, smoking, lower socioeconomic status is essential in stillbirth prevention.

Even low risk pregnancies with decreased fetal movements are known for higher risk of fetal distress in labor, for suboptimal growth in utero, and for increased risk of stillbirth.

Medical research supports kick counting as an effective and reliable way to screen fetal well-being during the third trimester in both low- and high-risk pregnancies. If problems are detected in time, intervention may be initiated to prevent stillbirth.

8. What can you do to reduce the risk of stillbirth?

At this time, many stillbirths cannot be predicted and the causes are not completely understood. Many stillbirths happen in otherwise low-risk pregnancies. There are a few things pregnant women can do to help reduce the risk of stillbirth:

Discuss kick counting instructions with your healthcare provider.
Do not smoke, drink alcohol or use drugs (unless prescribed by your doctor).
Report any vaginal bleeding, leakage, fever or sharp pain.
If you are past due, discuss delivery options with your doctor. Pregnancy longer than 42 weeks are at increased risk for stillbirth.

9. Where can you get more information about stillbirth prevention?

You can find more information about stillbirth prevention on www.babykickalliance.org

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