Stillbirth Risk Factors and Outcomes
Summary
Stillbirth remains a profound adverse outcome with multifactorial origins encompassing maternal, placental, foetal and environmental contributors. Established maternal risk factors include advanced maternal age, obesity, smoking and coexisting conditions such as hypertension and diabetes. Foetal growth restriction, often reflecting uteroplacental insufficiency, and congenital anomalies heighten the risk, particularly when combined with placental vascular disorders. Infections and inflammation account for a subset of cases, with chorioamnionitis and funisitis signalling ascending or systemic inflammatory processes. Socioeconomic and healthcare disparities further influence stillbirth rates, with low‐resource settings bearing the greatest burden. Outcomes extend beyond the loss itself, as preceding placental pathology or unexplained stillbirths may predict recurrence risk and complications in subsequent pregnancies. Advances in prenatal imaging, biomarker profiling and risk-prediction modelling are refining antenatal surveillance, yet translation to clinical practice remains uneven worldwide. A holistic understanding of the interplay between placental function, maternal health and foetal development is essential for effective prevention and management strategies.
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Stillbirth Risk Factors and Outcomes publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in stillbirth risk factors and outcomes across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Syncytiotrophoblast: The outer, multinucleated trophoblast layer of the placental villi responsible for nutrient and gas exchange and hormone secretion.
Idiopathic stillbirth: A fetal death occurring after 20 weeks of gestation for which no definitive cause can be identified after thorough evaluation.
Chorioamnionitis: Inflammatory lesion of the fetal membranes, often due to ascending bacterial infection.
Funisitis: Inflammation of the umbilical cord connective tissue, indicative of the fetal inflammatory response.
References
- Syncytiotrophoblast Markers Are Downregulated in Placentas from Idiopathic Stillbirths. International Journal of Molecular Sciences (2024).
- Infection-Related Stillbirths: A Detailed Examination of a Nine-Year Multidisciplinary Study. Microorganisms (2025).
- Placental inflammation and pregnancy outcomes: A prospective, observational study in South Asia: The PURPOSe study. BJOG An International Journal of Obstetrics & Gynaecology (2023).
- Adverse Perinatal Outcome in Subsequent Pregnancy after Stillbirth by Placental Vascular Disorders. PLOS ONE (2016).
- A stillbirth calculator: Development and internal validation of a clinical prediction model to quantify stillbirth risk. PLOS ONE (2017).
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