Stillbirth

Stillbirth is often defined as fetal death after 20 weeks of gestation, but a fetus greater than any combination of 16, 20, 22, 24, or 28 weeks gestational age and 350g, 400g, 500g, or 1000g birth weight may be considered stillborn depending on local law. Once the fetus has died, the mother may or may not have contractions and undergo childbirth or in some cases, a Caesarean section. Most stillbirths occur in full-term pregnancies. The cause is often unknown.

In the U.S., the Born-Alive Infants Protection Act of 2002 specifies that any breathing, heartbeat, pulsating umbilical cord, or confirmed voluntary muscle movement indicate live birth rather than stillbirth.

The term is often used in distinction to live birth (the baby was born alive, even if it died shortly thereafter) or miscarriage (early pregnancy loss). The word miscarriage is often used incorrectly to describe stillbirths.

Causes

The causes of a large percentage of human stillbirths remain unknown, even in cases where extensive testing and autopsy have been performed. A rarely used term to describe these is "sudden antenatal death syndrome" or SADS, a phrase coined by Cacciatore & Collins in 2000. Many stillbirths occur at full term to apparently healthy mothers, and a postmortem evaluation reveals a cause of death in only about 40% of autopsied cases.

Stillbirth (album)

Darkwave duo Oneiroid Psychosis released their debut album, Stillbirth, in 1995. Included were a few tracks from their previous effort, known simply as Psychosis. The album was re-released in 2003 by their new record label, COP International.

Track listing

All songs © 2003 Psylabs

Sample sources