1/3 of all stillbirths are unexplained. The babies seem perfectly healthy, the
placenta, the mother etc.
2/3rds, however, do
come with some answers as to what happened although there is still very little
comfort when the cause comes after the fact.
For example, many stillbirths occur because of “cord accidents” where
either the umbilical cord wrapped around the baby’s neck and cut off the baby’s
nutrient supply or the cord develops a blood clot and the same thing
happens.
The research in this area of obstetrics medicine is slim to
none. More babies die from stillbirth
than S.I.D.S. yet the research that is done in that area far outweighs any
research being done for stillbirth. This
needs to change but what we do know already is important and maybe a little
advocacy will go a long way to help prevent stillbirth. The good news is, there
are ways to watch for causes like cord accidents and possibly prevent a
stillbirth.
Please spread the word.
I have been involved with two large and renowned obstetrics offices and
neither of them give any of this information to pregnant women and their families. The only pamphlets that they carry regarding
stillbirth are grieving information once it’s already too late to act. This is typical practice and it needs to
change so that every woman has a chance to do something if she is presented
with an early demise of her baby.
A daily “kick count” starting at 26-28 weeks of pregnancy or
before if the woman can feel this pattern is important. The woman should take time each day to record
her baby’s movements. Once she can
familiarize herself with what is normal for her baby, then she is more likely
to notice when something does not feel right.
Many women, who have experienced stillbirth, report that right beforehand
they noticed either heightened movement (could be sign of a struggle) or
lessened or no movement.
Another symptom to keep one’s eyes open for are hiccups. Many women report that their baby had very noticeable
hiccups before its demise.
Another common cause is infection that ends up in the
placenta. The woman does not know she
has this until her placenta is examined after the stillbirth. It’s hard to tell if this is happening but
any potential infection such as a urinary tract infection or vaginal infection
or any other type of
suspected infection in the body should be checked out immediately by the OB. If an
infection continues too long without being treated it can move into what is
typically a very secure environment where the baby is. Normally this shouldn’t happen and I actually
had a nurse practitioner tell me recently that the above won’t happen. Well guess what, it happens. How do I know this? That is most likely what happened to my
pregnancy. The placenta did have an
infection…well how? I have no idea
because I was being heavily monitored by OB’s but no one checked me for any. I should have been more in tune with my body
and requested this but unfortunately I didn’t know.
If you have a microscopic hole in your amniotic sack it is
actually very easy for any bacteria to get to the placenta. Most of the time there is no way of knowing
that there is a hole and in my case the doctors checked me for leaking amniotic
fluid (even a trace) and could not find any.
Well, a few days later the ultrasound showed it was certainly
decreasing. The doctor said that if
people have microscopic holes they either heal themselves or they get
worse. Well we see what happened in my
case.
Mistakes happen and the awareness is so low in this area
that often a combination of things will cause a stillbirth so I just want to
put them out there for people to be aware.
The good news is, God promises us that if we put our trust
in him, he will give us peace of mind.
He said, “I am leaving you a gift – peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a peace that the
world cannot give. So don’t be troubled
and afraid.” John 14:27