stillbirth - tests results

[sweetlucy]

I got the results from my baby boy's autopsy and the doctor wasn't able to tell me anything appart that he died from asphyxia). Isn't it strange that the reason of half of all stillbirth is unknown? Is it because of lack of research?
I've read some articles on bbc news, 4000 babies are stillborn in the uk every year. 2500 die within 4 weeks. How comes more can't be done to stop 6500 people every year going through a such painful experience?

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7919493.stm

[louisesh]

Sorry for your loss.SANDS quote 17 babies a day are stillborn in the UK more than die to cotdeath and look at how much health promotion/information there is out there about cot death.

My daughter was stillborn at 41 weeks due to hypoxia due to choriamnnitios[sp] which is inflammation of the membranes due to E coli.I think in these situations theres no "Good" outcome You are doomed if you do doomed if you don t.With Georgie if she had come on her due date or even on 40 weeks 6 days she would have been fine,fit,healthy and alive.We wouldn t have been surprised by group strep b but E COLI is very very commom most of us have E coli with no problems.

Its all very sad.Some of us are writing a book to raise money for SANDS hopefully some of that will go to fund research.

Its a horrible situation to be in ,take care XXXX

[labtest]

My daughter Laura was stillborn at 41 weeks and 4 days (though we had been told two days prior that she had died). We opted for a post mortem but results were inconclusive. Cause of death was hypoxia with no known cause. I used to run a local Sands group and most members who lost at term did not get a reason. Laura was a good size 9lb 4oz and the pregnancy had been very low risk, which again seems to the case for many of the mothers I met through Sands. I went on to have a second child who is 4 now. In that pregnancy it was discovered early on that I had gestational diabetes so now I am left to wonder whether this had been a contributing factor in Laura's death.

Stillbirth rates in this country are a national disgrace. With research the cot death rate plumetted and I am convinced that stillbirth rates would be greatly reduced with better ante natal care and more research. sands are campaigning for this with their WHY17 campaign.

Louise, did you ever get hold of a copy of 'an exact replica of a figment of my imagination?

[EmmaBGoode]

I lost a baby to Cot Death, but I do agree that research into Stillbirth is underfunded. I think people think (wrongly) that because the child hasn't been born yet, that it is less important.

I know a few people who have lost babies to Stillbirth, and all seemed to be overdue at the time they died. Has anybody else noticed this?

[partickwhistle]

I saw this in Active conversations and just wanted to pop on to say I'm so sorry to all of you who have been through this and that I totally agree there needs to be much more awareness of stillbirth and more research into the causes so that we can reduce the incidence as much as possible.

OP, I am so sorry for your loss and hope you have some memories of your little one that you can cherish.

A couple of acquaintances lost babies to stillbirth last year. This led me to find out about SANDS and I now try to support them with donations, sponsorship etc as much as I can.

I think it's one of those things that people prefer to ignore as the thought is just too painful. People like to think "it won't happen to me as it's so rare" and pretend it doesn't exist, but we owe it to the babies who are not with us and their families to acknowledge stillbirth.

If there was a high profile campaign like Anne Diamond's work on SIDs in the 1990s, perhaps we could see a similar drop in the stillbirth rate. I hope so.

Love and best wishes to anyone affected by stillbirth xxx

[iloveblue]

Hi
We also got our PM results recently - but ours is not technically classed as a stillbirth as it was at 20 weeks.
We also lost a little boy and we also have no answers - he was perfect and all my blood tests came back normal.

It is so frustrating, and must be doubly hard for those of you who lost your babies at full term.

[louisesh]

Labtest yes did read that book read anything i could get my hands on.The main problem, i found, was a lot of the books were American hence why a group of us are writing about our experiences.

Emmabgoode Yes my DD was a week over when she died it didn t help as the placenta was somewhat comprised.The placenta is "meant" to last 40 weeks so any longer i think theres always a risk.Next pregnancy i ll be having a section at 37 weeks.

Although very sad about Amanda Holden in a way at least it brings stillbirth in to the open and media.

You re right patrick it is a disgrace more research needs to be conducted to prevent stillbirth.

Thanks xxxx

[CheeseandGherkins]

I had a stillbirth at 37 weeks in Decemeber, so not overdue. PM results were a cord accident, a few hours before she died she had suffered brain damage from lack of oxygen. She was an unstable lie and I was being admitted into hospital the day we found out about it.

[EmmaBGoode]

Do you think Amanda will start a campaign to highlight Stillbirth?

[louisesh]

Would be good.Something needs to be done.