Latest Stillbirth Stories

Research published this week in the open access journal PLoS Medicine shows that the rising rate of preterm birth in Scotland is as much a result of an increase in spontaneous preterm birth as it is of preterm birth that is medically-induced to avoid risking the lives of the mother and child. The results emphasize that preterm birth, which remains the single biggest cause of infant death in many developed countries, continues to be a major obstetric and neonatal problem despite the reductions...

A new type of fetal heart monitor could save the lives of unborn infants in complicated pregnancies, according to a study published in the International Journal of Engineering Systems Modelling and Simulation.A.K. Mittra of the Department of Electronics Engineering, at the Manoharbhai Patel Institute of Engineering & Technology, in Gondia, India, and colleagues have developed a simple device based on a two-microphone system that can monitor fetal heart rate during the mother's rest times...

During about the last 20 years, the risk of delivery-related death at birth or shortly thereafter for term infants has decreased nearly 40 percent in Scotland, with the largest contributing factor being a decrease in the number of deaths caused by a lack of oxygen for the baby during the childbirth process, according to a study in the August 12 issue of JAMA.Rates of obstetric intervention in labor, including cesarean delivery, have increased significantly in most developed countries....

There is no evidence that children next-born after stillbirth are clinically at risk compared to children of non-bereaved mothers, according to a study published today in The Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry. However, the study did find evidence of less optimal mother-child interaction.Stillbirth can be a major psychological trauma to parents. Anecdotal accounts have suggested that children born subsequent to stillbirth of a sibling may be psychologically vulnerable. This study is...

Premature birth can happen to any woman anywhere and some 200 experts met in Seattle this week to discuss ways to help more of the early arrivals survive. Although technology helps save many preemies, more than 1 million die worldwide each year and an additional 3 million babies are stillborn, The Seattle Times reported Saturday. It happens to women in Seattle and Sri Lanka, said Dr. Craig Rubens, of Seattle Children's hospital and executive director of the Global Alliance to Prevent...

An estimated 3.2 million stillbirths occur worldwide each year, with 98 percent occurring in low- to middle-income countries, U.S. researchers said. The global burden of intrapartum stillbirths -- stillbirths that happen during labor -- is around 1 million, again mostly in low- and middle-income countries. However, the investment and attention given to tackling stillbirths is low, the researchers said. A supplement published in BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth provides an in-depth analysis of...

Erin Fogarty Owen is celebrating her current pregnancy with the memory of her stillborn daughter Clare close at hand. For Erin, the hardest part of Clare's death is the fact the family still doesn't know what caused it. According to an Associated Press report, for 1 in 3 babies that are stillborn doctors simply can't find an explanation. In the U.S. 25,000 babies are stillborn every year. Birth defects, problems with the placenta, and too little fetal growth account for many stillbirths. But...

Women with a history of serious mental illness are much more likely to have babies that are stillborn or die within the first month of life, new research reveals.Researchers at the Centre for Women's Mental Health at The University of Manchester studied almost 1.5 million births in Denmark between 1973 and 1998, including 7,021 stillbirths.The risk of stillbirth and newborn deaths from any cause was at least twice as high for mothers admitted with a serious psychiatric illness than for women...

By Susan Jurgelski It's a walk to remember. Share of Lancaster, a pregnancy- and infant-loss support group, will hold its sixth annual Walk to Remember, Sunday, at the Greenfield Corporate Center, Lancaster. According to Share, in the past year, local parents suffered the loss of more than 350 babies through miscarriage, pregnancy complications, prematurity, stillbirth or SIDS. Many other early gestational deaths were unreported. Registration will begin at 1 p.m., and the walk will start...

By JAKE ARMSTRONG ATLANTA-Life was rolling along for Allie Brokhoff. She and her husband Andrew had just settled into their Richmond Hill home, and a trip to the doctor's office in mid-August 2007 confirmed she was three weeks away from adding a third healthy boy to their brood - Ethan Isaac Shark Brokhoff, a name their two sons helped choose. Days later, she noticed the unborn baby wasn't moving much. She ate a bowl of Cocoa Krispies, which usually elicited a flurry of activity from the...