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"he was a special blessing and we'll never forget him"

The information on this website is provided to assist grieving parents, their relatives and friends understand the circumstances that surround the death of a baby. Questions may arise that are specific to your personal experience and you are encouraged to discuss these with your doctor or grief cousellor.

Loss of a baby before or during birth is a devastating experience for a woman and her family.

Often, the shock of such a loss can be overwhelming. Part of the adjustment process after such a terrible loss will be a search for answers. This website is dedicated to providing accurate, up-to-date information about stillbirth in general, and unexplained stillbirth (death of a baby for which no cause can be found) in particular.

The site is updated regularly, and aims to provide information and guidance on the subject.

Unexplained stillbirth remains a poorly understood, and around the world important research projects are underway to help understand this most tragic of losses. This website aims to provide links to many such projects, in the search for answers.

What is ‘stillbirth’?

Stillbirth is a term used by doctors and midwives to describe death of a baby before birth. Stillbirth is different to miscarriage - miscarriage is the term used for loss of a baby in the first 5 months of pregnancy.

The word stillbirth is used slightly differently in different countries, and even within different states of Australia. The World Health Organisation (WHO) describes stillbirth simply as death of a baby before birth.

In Australia, the usual definition is death prior to birth where the pregnancy has lasted for more than 20 weeks, or where the baby weighs 400 grams or more at birth.

In Australia, approximately one baby in 200 is stillborn. To find out more information about the rates of pregnancy loss in Australia, you can click on the following sites:

Links

http://www.npsu.unsw.edu.au/ps16.pdf
http://www.health.vic.gov.au/perinatal/
http://www.dh.sa.gov.au/pehs/pregnancyoutcome.htm
http://www.health.wa.gov.au/publications/documents/PN-2003.pdf

What is an ‘unexplained’ stillbirth?

An unexplained stillbirth is said to have happened when the tests done to find a cause do not yield any definite findings.

In Australia, as many as 1 in 4 stillbirths will remain unexplained. This is a situation that can be particularly distressing for women and their partners and families.

What are the risks for unexplained stillbirth?

Many studies have been undertaken to find if there are risk factors for unexplained stillbirth. Some findings from these studies are summarized below:

Age of the mother

The results are conflicting, but there may be a modest increase in risk for women aged 35 years or more.

Smoking

Large studies have linked smoking with an increased risk of stillbirth.

Weight

There is probably an effect of a woman’s weight on the risk of stillbirth, and obesity (a body mass index of more than 30 Kg/m2) has been linked to unexplained stillbirth.

Number of children

The issue of whether having a large number of children is a possible factor associated with a risk of unexplained stillbirth is unresolved, but this is probably unlikely. It may be that the woman’s age and other medical conditions are more important factors.

Previous caesarean section

There may be a very small effect of a previous caesarean section on the risk of unexplained stillbirth, but this effect is likely to be very small.

Previous small babies

There is some evidence that having previously had a baby that was small for it’s ‘gestational age’ (that is, a baby that is much smaller than average for the time in pregnancy that it is born) might increase the risk of unexplained stillbirth in future pregnancies.

A previous stillbirth

Having previously lost a baby increases the risk of stillbirth in future pregnancies, but if the previous stillbirth was ‘unexplained’, the risk might not be increased.

How should a stillborn baby be delivered?

There is no fixed rule about delivering a stillborn baby, and there is no rush (provided the mother is well).

Trying to deliver the baby naturally (vaginal birth) is usually safest for the woman, and allows for the minimum stay in hospital after birth. However, this is not always the case. It might be important the deliver the baby by caesarean section if the placenta is low-lying in the uterus (placenta praevia), or if the woman has had one or more previous caesarean births.

Often, faced with the news that the baby has died, women will want the baby delivered as quickly as possible. Although some women will become ill and urgent delivery will be required, the majority of women are physically well and there need be no rush. Women should spend as much time as required discussing the options for birth with their doctors and midwives, and be satisfied that their wishes have been taken into account when planning the timing and method of the baby’s birth.

Induction of labour

In most Australian hospitals, induction of labour is undertaken by breaking the waters around the baby. To make this possible, it may be necessary to use some medications that will soften the cervix and allow it to open. The medication is often in the form of a gel containing a dose of prostaglandin. When stillbirth has occurred, some maternity units and doctors will prescribe antibiotics during labour to reduce the risk of infection, but every woman is different and you should discuss this.