Stillbirth is a harrowing experience for all involved. Gardosi et all published a paper in the British Medical Journal of 2 February 2013 in volume 346 pg 15 where they looked at 92218 births in thw West Midlands NHS region over a two year period. Of these 389 were stillbirths.
What they found was that the risk of stillbirth, however small, appears to be increased in first and fourth and subsequent births. Smoking, obesity(BMI >30) and pregnancy complications all appear to increase the risk. What they consistently found was that if the baby had what they called foetal growth restriction, also called small for dates, this conveyed the highest risk especially if not picked up before birth. It would appear in the group studied that having a small for dates baby meant you were likely to be delivered on average 10 days earlier than if it wasn't picked up.
Stillbirths occur on average in 4.2 births in every thousand. This breaks down to 2.4 in every 1000 normal sized babies, 9.7 in every 1000 antenataly detected small for dates and 19.8 in every 1000 when it goes undetected.
What they found was that the risk of stillbirth, however small, appears to be increased in first and fourth and subsequent births. Smoking, obesity(BMI >30) and pregnancy complications all appear to increase the risk. What they consistently found was that if the baby had what they called foetal growth restriction, also called small for dates, this conveyed the highest risk especially if not picked up before birth. It would appear in the group studied that having a small for dates baby meant you were likely to be delivered on average 10 days earlier than if it wasn't picked up.
Stillbirths occur on average in 4.2 births in every thousand. This breaks down to 2.4 in every 1000 normal sized babies, 9.7 in every 1000 antenataly detected small for dates and 19.8 in every 1000 when it goes undetected.
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