Investigating demographic, socioeconomic, and obsteric risk factors of term intrauterine stillbirth cases

Abstract

Objective: To establish the prevalence, etiology, demographic, socioeconomic, and obstetric risks factors of intrauterine fetal deaths among term pregnancies with no risk factors. Our study is the first to investigate term stillbirth risk factors in such a large population. Material and Methods: A total of 96 cases of stillbirth between 37th and 42nd weeks with no risk factors out of 90,557 births conducted in 2011-2015 were investigated retrospectively. Eighty patients that had stillbirth in our clinic were chosen as the study cases and 80 others that had risk-free live birth at the weeks of 37-42 chosen randomly accepted as the control group. Variables such as age of mothers, gravidas, parities, level of education of mothers, time since the previous pregnancy, BMIs, weight gained during pregnancy, gestational week, birth weights of infants, systolic and diastolic blood pressures, hemoglobin values, blood glucose levels, white blood cell counts, smoking history, follow-ups at the hospital, gender of babies, and seasonal distribution of stillbirths were evaluated. Results: The stillbirth rate was found as 14 per million and stillbirth in risk-free population at 37-42 weeks was 1.05 per mill. BMI, hemoglobin levels, and systolic blood pressures of mothers were significantly higher in stillbirths. Any statistically significant difference in mean maternal age, gravida/parity, education level, weight gained during pregnancy, smoking and fetal gender distribution was not established between the groups Conclusion: Term stillbirths in the risk-free group may be correlated with advanced gestational week, increased BMI, systolic blood pressure, and hemoglobin levels of the mother also insufficient antenatal follow-up.