Causes of Death Among Stillbirths

Abstract

Stillbirth, defined as fetal death at 20 weeks' gestation or later, is one of the most common adverse pregnancy outcomes in the United States and affects approximately 1 in 160 pregnancies.¹ These approximately 26 000 stillbirths per year are equivalent to the number of infant deaths.² The stillbirth rate in the United States is higher than that of many other developed countries.^3-5 From 1990-2003, the stillbirth rate declined slowly but steadily, by an average of 1.4% per year. In contrast, the infant mortality rate declined twice as fast by an average of 2.8% per year.¹ Since 2003 the stillbirth rate in the United States has remained stagnant at 6.2 stillbirths per 1000 births,¹ 59% higher than the Healthy People 2010 target goal of 4.1 fetal deaths per 1000 births.⁶