The Loss of Your Baby....
Miscarriage, Stillbirth, Birth Loss, SIDS.
Miscarriage ~ < 20 wk loss of the embryo or fetus
.Miscarriage or spontaneous
abortion is the spontaneous end of a pregnancy at a stage where
the embryo or fetus is incapable of surviving
independently, generally defined as prior to 20 weeks of gestation.
Miscarriage is the most common complication of early pregnancy. It
is estimated that up to half of all fertilized eggs die and are lost (aborted)
spontaneously, usually before the woman knows she is pregnant. Among those
women who know they are pregnant, the miscarriage rate is about 15-20%. Most
miscarriages occur during the first 7 weeks of pregnancy.
The rate of
miscarriage drops after the baby's heart beat is detected.
Causes,
incidence, and risk factors
.
Most miscarriages are caused by chromosome
problems that make it impossible for the baby to develop. Usually, these
problems are unrelated to the mother or father's genes.
Other possible causes for miscarriage include:
- Drug and alcohol abuse
- Exposure to environmental toxins
- Hormone problems
- Infection
- Obesity
- Physical problems with the mother's reproductive
organs
- Problem with the body's immune response
- Serious body-wide ( systemic) diseases in
the mother (such as uncontrolled diabetes)
- Smoking
.
Stillbirth ~ 20 wk+ loss of the fetus or unborn baby
Stillbirth is the death of a fetus while still inside the uterus. Medically
referred to as IUFD or Intrauterine Fetal Demise, stillbirth is more common
than we might think. Most stillbirths occur in full term pregnancy.
Causes
.
The causes of a large percentage of stillbirth remain unknown, even in cases
where extensive testing and autopsy have been performed. A rarely used term to
describe these cases is: Sudden Antenatal Death Syndrome, or SADS (coined
by Cacciatore & Collins in 2000).
In cases where the cause IS known, some possibilities of fetal death are:
- bactererial infection
- birth
defects, especially pulmonary hypoplasia
- chromosomal
aberrations or anomolies
- growth
retardation/restriction
- intrahepatic
cholestasis of pregnancy
- maternal diabetes
- high
blood pressure, including pregnancy induced hypertention (PIH), preeclampsia,
HELLP syndrome, and eclampsia
- maternal
consumption of recreational drugs (such as alcohol, nicotine,
etc.) or pharmaceutical drugs contraindicated in pregnancy
- postdate
pregnancy
- placental
abruption
- physical
trauma
- radiation
poisoning
- Rh disease
- umbilical cord accidents
Intrapartum Fetal Demise & Birth Loss
The death of a baby inutero (inside the womb) during labor or delivery is call an intrapartum fetal demise and the death of a baby at or immediately after birth (within the first week) is referred to an a neonatal demise. Learn more about perinatal motality here on Wikipedia.
Loss & Grief ~ When a Baby Dies
Sudden Infant Death Syndrome ~ SIDS
SIDS is the sudden death of an infant under one year of age which remains unexplained after a thorough case
investigation, including performance of a complete autopsy, examination of the death scene, and review
of the clinical
history. (Willinger et al, 1991)
In a typical situation parents check on their supposedly sleeping infant to find him or her dead. This is the worst
tragedy parents can face, a tragedy which leaves them with a sadness and a feeling of vulnerability that lasts
throughout their lives.
Since medicine can not tell them why their baby died, they blame themselves and often other
innocent people.
Their lives and those around
them are changed forever.
There ARE things you can do do REDUCE the
risk of a SIDS related tragedy. Read and Learn.
It was thirteen years ago that the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP)
released its
first policy statement on reducing the risk of SIDS. The
statement recommended that all healthy infants be placed on their backs
to sleep in order to reduce the risks of SIDS.
Shortly thereafter, the
NICHD joined with the AAP, the SIDS Alliance (now
First Candle/ SIDS
Alliance), the Association of SIDS and Infant Mortality Programs, and
the Maternal and Child Health Bureau of HRSA to launch the
Back to Sleep
campaign to help inform all parents and infant care givers about the
importance of back sleeping. Since then, the percentage of infants
placed on their backs to sleep has increased dramatically, and the
rates of SIDS have declined by more than 50 percent.