Stillbirth: Pregnancy and About.com Guide Updated

My aunt had her first baby when she was 19. There occurs so many miscarriages and deaths during a pregnancy. When she was first pregnant she lost her child. They did not know why this kept happening repeatedly over and over. Many

Preterm births, a birth before 37 weeks, happens in 12% of births and accounts for 47% of infant fatalities in Ohio. The chance of a black woman having a preterm birth is 1.5 times that of a white woman (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). Multiple pregnancies can cause problems to a placenta. The more pregnancies a woman has, the probability of them having a preterm birth increases (Live Science). At its current state, there are no tests to determine to detect when a preterm birth will occur. About half of preterm births happen with no visible risk factors (Centers for Disease Control

Firstly, we need to understand that our scientific view of preterm birth has changed over the years. According to popular knowledge, preterm birth is when a mother delivers too soon, but Roberto Romero, M.D., D.Med.Sci., chief of the Perinatology Research Branch of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development located at Wayne State University and the Detroit Medical Center, along with multiple scientists are researchers have come to the conclusion that preterm birth is not one problem, but a soup of multiple problems that need to be addressed (“Advances”, 2014) In fact, it can be drawn that preterm birth is not an event, but a disorder with many factors. One example is

Your prenatal care begins with your OB/GYN obtaining your full health history. Your basic vital signs, such as blood pressure and weight, will be taken. Your OB/GYN will then perform a full pelvic exam, a pap smear, screening lab work, and an ultrasound. This can help to confirm your pregnancy and determine your due date. Progesterone levels will be checked and monitored and treated if need be.

Many causes of neonatal death can be diverted with the right care. It is important for a pregnant woman to attend all her antenatal visits from a skilled health care provider. Your health care provider will then advise on the best course of action. It is also important that a mother deliver with the assistance of a skilled birth attendant who will ensure that the birthing process is free from infection but also administer effective preventive treatment to the new born. Always stick to your post natal visits and do not hesitate to consult with the health care provider if you notice something strange with the baby.

A miscarriage, also known as spontaneous abortion, is the loss of the fetus before it is viable. About 15-20% of all pregnancies end in a miscarriage, often occurring during the first trimester. Miscarriages may occur due to a fertilized egg failing to divide correctly, genetic abnormalities, maternal illnesses, hormone imbalances, toxic chemicals, physical trauma or infections. Usually, however, the cause is unidentified. A stillbirth refers to the death of a fetus after the twentieth week of pregnancy, but before delivery. Approximately 1 in every 160 births is a stillbirth in the United States. In this situation, the baby is born dead, often for no recognizable reason. Poor fetal growth, infections and umbilical cord accidents, however,

Fetal stress can make the unborn baby more likely to have their first bowel movement in the womb. Meconium is a thick, sticky, black substance that makes up the first bowel movements. If inhaled during birth it increases the risk of respiratory problems. Also, the risk of having a stillborn is slightly increased. This is due to the toxins flowing through the placenta and depriving the unborn baby of oxygen and nutrients. As for the mother, the ability for blood to clot can decrease because of the bodies inability to absorb fat-soluble vitamins such as A, D, and K. This creates a higher risk for hemorrhaging before and during birth. Although Intrahepatic Cholestasis of Pregnancy resolves itself there is a ninety percent risk for it to return in future

The difference between preconception care and prenatal care is that preconception care is the care or checkup you receive before you get pregnant to make sure your body is ready for pregnancy and to increase your chances of having a healthy pregnancy and a healthy baby. Prenatal care is the care and checkups you receive throughout the entire duration of your pregnancy. These help keep you and your baby healthy or find if there are any health conditions early on. The schedule for prenatal visits usually go as follow: Week 4-28 every 4 weeks, week 28-36 every 2 weeks and weeks 36-birth every week. During your prenatal checkups your provider will check you weight, blood pressure, measure your belly, and

This happens a lot more than one would think, 15-20% of known pregnancies end in a miscarriage (Miscarriage Medline), to some this number is comforting to know they are not alone. Almost all miscarriages will happen before the 2nd trimester begins which is at the 14 week mark. Most people going through a miscarriage for the first time want to know why it happened was it something they could have done differently, but there isn 't anything you can do to prevent a miscarriage (Sifferlin Most).

The primary part of perinatal deaths are stillborn deaths. Stillbirth is defined as many things but it is primarily considered to be death of an infant after twenty weeks of gestation (Hayley Willacy). Stillbirths can happen when an infant dies inside the uterus, or intrauterine. It can also be when an infant dies during the process of labor. There are many causes for an infant to end up being stillborn. There is pre-eclampsia/eclampsia, birth trauma, placental insufficiency, placental previa, umbilical cord prolapse, intrapartum asphyxia, gestational diabetes, hemorrhage during pregnancy/labor, and placental abruption (Hayley Willacy).

Due to foetal distress, a first-time mother has given birth via caesarean section. Baby was well and didn’t receive resuscitation or admission to special care nursery, however baby

The babies could be born too early, which is called premature birth. Half of all twins and ninety percent of all triplets are born prematurely. Babies born prematurely may have many

Gestational diabetes (also called gestational diabetes mellitus or GDM) is a kind of diabetes that can happen during pregnancy. Seven out of every 100 pregnant women (7 percent) develop gestational diabetes. It’s a condition in which your body has too much sugar (called glucose) in the blood. Here are the top things you need to know about gestational diabetes: • Most pregnant women get a test for gestational diabetes at 24 to 28 weeks of pregnancy.

Ultrasounds provide some of the necessary information needed when predicting a premature birth by the weight and position of the baby but another test is the fetal fibronectin test which tests the level of fibronectin fluid being released, allowing doctors to predict the exact due date.

Pregnancy is normally the best and the happiest stage of any woman, but it can also be uncertain because anything can go wrong if you do not know exactly what to do. In order to understand the reasons of why Preterm Birth occurs, it is important to know what it is and how risky it can be. Preterm Birth is also known as Premature labor which mainly begins after “20 weeks but before 37 completed week’s gestations. Approximately 12.9 million babies worldwide are born too early every year representing an incidence of PTB of 9.6%” (Berghella, pp. 2, 8). Baby Center Medical Advisory Board says that about 12 percent of babies