A
stillbirth
is the death of a baby in the womb after week 20 of the mother’s pregnancy. The reasons go unexplained for 1/3 of cases. The other 2/3 may be caused by problems with the placenta or umbilical cord, high blood pressure, infections, birth defects, or poor lifestyle choices.
What is the most common cause of fetal death?
The most common causes were
obstetric conditions
(150 [29.3%; 95% CI, 25.4%–33.5%]), placental abnormalities (121 [23.6%; 95% CI, 20.1%–27.6%]), fetal genetic/structural abnormalities (70 [13.7%; 95% CI, 10.9%–17.0%]), infection (66 [12.9%; 95% CI, 10.2%–16.2%]), umbilical cord abnormalities (53 [10.4%; 95% CI, 7.9%– …
What are the signs of fetal death?
- Spotting or bleeding during pregnancy.
- Pain and cramping.
- Fetal kicking and movement suddenly stops.
- Fetal heartbeat is indetectable with a Doppler or stethoscope.
- Fetal heartbeat and movement is indetectable with an ultrasound.
What are the signs of a stillborn baby?
- Stopping of fetal movement and kicks.
- Spotting or bleeding.
- No fetal heartbeat heard with stethoscope or Doppler.
- No fetal movement or heartbeat seen on ultrasound, which makes the definitive diagnosis that a baby is stillborn. Other symptoms may or may not be linked to stillbirth.
How do they remove a dead baby from the womb?
This treatment involves a surgical procedure known as
a dilatation and curettage (D&C)
which is done under a general anaesthetic. The procedure will remove any pregnancy tissue from your uterus. It is successful in 95 to 100 per cent of cases but there are small surgical risks.
What can happen if a dead fetus is not removed?
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.
What happens to a baby when the mother dies?
Coffin birth
, also known as postmortem fetal extrusion, is the expulsion of a nonviable fetus through the vaginal opening of the decomposing body of a deceased pregnant woman as a result of the increasing pressure of intra-abdominal gases.
What week is stillbirth most common?
The highest risk of stillbirth was seen at
42 weeks
with 10.8 per 10,000 ongoing pregnancies (95% CI 9.2–12.4 per 10,000) (Table 2).
What causes the fetus to stop growing?
The most common cause is
a problem in the placenta
(the tissue that carries food and blood to the baby). Birth defects and genetic disorders can cause IUGR. If the mother has an infection, high blood pressure, is smoking, or drinking too much alcohol or abusing drugs, her baby might have IUGR.
How can I avoid stillbirth?
- Go to all your antenatal appointments. It’s important not to miss any of your antenatal appointments. …
- Eat healthily and keep active. …
- Stop smoking. …
- Avoid alcohol in pregnancy. …
- Go to sleep on your side. …
- Tell your midwife about any drug use. …
- Have the flu jab. …
- Avoid people who are ill.
Can a stillborn baby survive?
Of the unexpected apparent stillbirths successfully resuscitated, 52% died or survived severely disabled, 10% had an equivocal outcome, but
36% survived apparently intact
. Therefore, vigorous resuscitation is clearly indicated in these circumstances.
What is the difference between stillborn and stillbirth?
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.
Can a baby grow with no heartbeat?
This is called an
anembryonic pregnancy
, which is also known as a blighted ovum. Or it may be that your baby started to grow, but then stopped growing and they have no heartbeat. Occasionally it happens beyond the first few weeks, perhaps at eight weeks or 10 weeks, or even further on.
Do you have to deliver a miscarried baby?
If you have a
late miscarriage, you will need to go through labour to give birth to your baby
. This can be a very distressing time and you may be in shock. The staff caring for you at the hospital will understand this and will explain what your options are clearly so you can make a decision about your treatment.
How do you know if your baby’s heart stops beating?
To conclusively diagnose a loss, a doctor must
perform an ultrasound
to check for a heartbeat. The heartbeat does not develop until 6.5–7 weeks of gestation, so the absence of a heartbeat before this time does not indicate a loss. To confirm a pregnancy loss, a doctor may choose to perform scans on multiple days.
How long can you keep a dead baby in your womb?
In the case of fetal demise, a dead fetus that has been in the uterus for
4 weeks
can cause changes in the body’s clotting system. These changes can put a woman at a much higher chance of significant bleeding if she waits for a long time after the fetal demise to deliver the pregnancy.
