Abstract
About 1 percent of pregnancies result in a stillborn infant. Thorough obstetric - pathologic - pediatric/genetic evaluation of 37 stillbirths showed a multitude of causes: maternal preexisting disorders (5%), maternal disorders of pregnancy (5%), disorders of placenta and fetal membranes (10%), umbilical cord abnormality (3%), fetal abnormalities (49%), and instances of sudden fetal death syndrome without specifically determined cause (27%). Frequently (76%) the cause was not obstetric and often (43%) it was not apparent from postmortem examination. Since the pathologic findings, where noted, generally related to fetal rather than to maternal abnormalities, the obstetrician may not be adept at delineating all the possible implications important for parental understanding and acceptance of the event, future obstetric management, recurrence risk determination, and selection of prenatal diagnostic procedures during future pregnancies. We recommend that obstetricians involve pediatricians (who may have to be better trained in this area!) as consultants to help determine the cause and implications of the event.
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Herrmann, J., Phipps, S. & Koebert, R. 1205 THE STILLBORN INFANT: NEED FOR PEDIATRIC CONSULTATION. Pediatr Res 15 (Suppl 4), 643 (1981). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198104001-01231
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198104001-01231
