> WHAT CAUSES STILLBIRTHS?

Environment and demographics

Scientists have observed that women who are obese, older than 35, or abuse drugs or alcohol are more likely to deliver a stillborn child.

Smoking in the three months prior to pregnancy also increases the risk by about 50 per cent, said Dr. Michael Gravett, scientific director with Seattle’s Global Alliance to Prevent Prematurity and Stillbirth.

Studies have shown that women of certain ethnic groups, such as African-American women and First Nations populations, have higher rates of stillbirth.

Medical risk factors

Women with diabetes or hypertension are more prone to stillbirth but these risks can be addressed by “early and consistent and good treatment,” Gravett said.

Stillbirths related to these conditions also tend to occur later in the pregnancy.

This partly explains why more than half of stillbirths in poorer countries — where medical access is limited or non-existent — happen when the baby is at term.

Obstetrical complications

A main cause of stillbirth is a problem with the placenta, either due to abnormal blood vessel development or because the placenta prematurely separates.

Stillbirths can also occur because of infection or fetal abnormalities.

“If it’s an infection or an umbilical cord abnormality or something like that, it’s important to emphasize that not all of this is preventable or predictable,” Gravett said. “And it’s certainly not the mother’s fault.”