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Stillbirth

 

            When parents hear the heartbreaking news that their baby has died in the womb, their grief can be overwhelming. In a few brief moments, they go from happy anticipation of their baby's birth to the intense pain of confronting his death. When fetal death occurs after 20 weeks of pregnancy, it is referred to as stillbirth. (A fetal death prior to 20 weeks is a miscarriage.) Stillbirth occurs in about one in 200 pregnancies. For many parents, their loss is completely unexpected, because up to half of all stillbirths occur in pregnancies that had seemed problem-free. While 14 percent of fetal deaths occur during labor and delivery, 86 percent occur before labor begins. The pregnant woman may suspect that something is wrong if the baby suddenly stops moving around and kicking but sometimes the mother will not know until the child is delivered. There are however many causes of stillbirth that can be prevented. In my presentation I will talk about the common and most talked about causes of stillbirth in today's society, the uncommon and preventable causes, and the relationship between those and Rose of Sharon's stillbirth baby in The Grapes of Wrath.
             The most common known causes for stillbirth include: Placental problems, birth defects, growth restriction, and infections.
             Placental abruption, a condition in which the placenta peels away, partly to almost completely, from the uterine wall before delivery, most commonly occurs around the 35th week of pregnancy. It results in heavy bleeding that can threaten the life of mother and baby, and deprives the baby of adequate oxygen, sometimes resulting in fetal death. Placental abruption is diagnosed with an ultrasound examination. Women who smoke cigarettes have a 50 percent greater risk of abruption than nonsmokers, while women who use cocaine during pregnancy may at least double their risk. Women who develop a pregnancy-related form of high blood pressure (preeclampsia) also have twice the risk of abruption as unaffected women.


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