As you might expect, there are many possible causes of stillbirth. One of the ways we can understand the causes of stillbirth is to look at factors affecting the baby, the placenta and umbilical cord, and the mother. It is important to understand that there may be several causes, not just one.

Factors affecting the baby

Abnormalities of the baby’s chromosomes, and inherited genetic disorders

Infections

Congenital abnormalities (“birth defects”)

Feto-maternal haemorrhage (the baby’s blood lost into the mother’s bloodstream)

Restriction of the baby’s growth

Other rare causes

Factors affecting the placenta and umbilical cord

Bleeding behind the placenta, partially or completely stripping it from the wall of the uterus (“abruption”)

Death of part of the placenta (“placental infarction”)

Accidents involving the umbilical cord (eg, cord prolapse)

Factors affecting the mother

High blood pressure and pre-eclampsia

Auto-immune diseases

A tendency for the blood to clot (“thrombophilia”)

Kidney or other organ diseases (eg, liver disease)

Drug use (including smoking)

Other causes

Why is it important to determine the cause of the baby’s death?

For some women and their families, the shock of having a baby die before birth will seem overwhelming. It may be tempting to have the baby delivered and to go home without having a thorough set of tests done to determine, if possible, the causes of the baby’s death.

It is the absolute right of every woman to determine whether she and her baby will have tests done, but it is important to remember some special points:

If you are planning to become pregnant again in the future, then you will probably want to know what caused the death of your baby because this will allow you to know if there is a risk of a bad outcome in a future pregnancy. This is probably the most important reason.

Even if you are not planning to have any more children, some diseases that can cause death of a baby can also threaten a woman’s health. Examples include auto-immune diseases such as lupus, conditions in which the blood becomes more likely to clot (the so-called thrombophilias, or high levels of homocysteine in the blood).

Other members of your family may wish to have children, and might need to know whether there is a problem that could potentially be inherited (such as a tendency to clot, or a genetic disease) that might affect their own pregnancy.