Hello and welcome to the Zero to Finals podcast. My name is Tom and in this episode I'm going to be talking to you about Stillbirth. And you can find written notes on this topic at zero to finals.com slash stillbirth or in the antinatal care section of the zero to finals obstetrics and gynecology book.

So let's get straight into it. Stillbirth is defined as the birth of a dead fetus after 24 weeks

gestation. Stillbirth is the result of intrauterine fetal death, or IUFD.

It occurs in approximately 1 in 200 pregnancies.

Let's go through the causes.

Many of the conditions that can affect pregnancy increase the risk of stillbirth.

It's also common for stillbirth to be unexplained. The causes of stillbirth

include unexplained, which is around 50% of stillbirth cases, preeclampsia, placental

abruption, vasoprevia, cord prolapse or wrapping of the cord around the fetal neck,

obstetric colostasis, diabetes, thyroid disease, infections such as rebella, parvovirus and

listeria, and genetic abnormalities or congenital malformations in the fetus.

Factors that increase the risk of stillbirth include fetal growth restriction, smoking,

alcohol consumption, increased maternal age, maternal obesity, twin pregnancies,

and when the mother sleeps on the back as opposed to sleeping

on her side. Next let's talk about the prevention of stillbirth. A risk assessment for having a

baby that is small for gestational age or with a fetal growth restriction is performed on all pregnant women.

Having risk factors for small for gestational age increases the risk of stillbirth.

Those at higher risk have the fetal growth monitored closely with serial growth scans

using ultrasound scans every two to four weeks to measure the growth of the fetus.

This helps identify women that need further investigations and management.

They may need planned early delivery when the growth is static or other concerns are identified

on the growth scans. Women at risk of preeclampsia are given aspirin.

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