There are six stillborn babies a day in Australia.
One in 135 births will be stillborn yet the cause of many of these deaths will never be known.
For every baby that dies of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) in Australia, 35 are stillborn.
Despite enormous technological and medical advances, the rate of stillborn babies has not declined in two decades.
A stillbirth is the birth of a baby who has died any time from 20 weeks into the pregnancy through to the due date of birth. The baby may have died during the pregnancy or during the birth.
If the baby’s length of gestation is unknown, the birth will be considered a stillbirth if the baby weighs more than 400 grams.
The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare has published a study which deals with the causes of stillbirth in Australia from 1991-2009. The report is based on the Perinatal Death Classification of The Perinatal Society of Australia and New Zealand (PSANZ).
These describe conditions where the development of the baby has been affected and are present from conception or early in pregnancy. They may involve problems with chromosomes or important structures such as the brain, heart, spinal cord or kidneys.
Some 7% of women in Australia deliver their baby preterm. Although the majority of preterm babies do well with modern obstetric and neonatal care, if the birth is extremely early, the baby can be too immature to survive and can be stillborn. Underlying reasons for preterm birth are not well understood but include infection and maternal medical conditions necessitating earlier delivery.
A variety of issues may lead to placental problems including conditions such as diabetes and high blood pressure. These can impair placental development and mean the placenta is unable to nourish the baby and can result in stillbirth. Placental abruption is a relatively common cause of stillbirth and occurs if there is bleeding between the placenta and the wall of the womb which can acutely reduce blood supply to the baby. Rarer placental problems such as vasa praevia and fetomaternal haemorrhage can also affect blood supply to the baby. Cord “accidents” are often implicated in stillbirth, but the diagnosis should be made with caution as cord problems are often seen in healthy liveborn babies. A baby’s death should not be attributed to a cord accident unless there is both evidence of true obstruction and exclusion of other problems.
| Cause | % | Numbers |
|---|---|---|
| Congenital abnormality | 22.3 | 1891 |
| Perinatal infection | 3.5 | 251 |
| Hypertension | 3.1 | 265 |
| Antepartum haemorrhage (APH) | 6.9 | 589 |
| Maternal Conditions | 13.4 | 1141 |
| Specific perinatal condition | 8.1 | 684 |
| Hypoxic peripartum death | 1.9 | 159 |
| Fetal growth restriction | 7 | 593 |
| Spontaneous pre-term (less than 37 weeks gestation) | 11.5 | 980 |
| Unexplained anterpartum death | 22.3 | 1896 |
| No obstetric antecedent | .5 | 41 |
| TOTAL | 100 | 8490 |
For more information, please view the following references:
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare: Stillbirths in Australia 1991-2009
Perinatal Society of Australia and New Zealand: Perinatal Death and Neonatal Death Classifications
