Still Born [UPDATED]
A stillbirth is the death or loss of a baby before or during delivery. Both miscarriage and stillbirth describe pregnancy loss, but they differ according to when the loss occurs. In the United States, a miscarriage is usually defined as loss of a baby before the 20th week of pregnancy, and a stillbirth is loss of a baby at or after 20 weeks of pregnancy.
Still Born
Stillbirth affects about 1 in 175 births, and each year about 21,000 babies are stillborn in the United States.1 That is about the same as the number of babies that die during the first year of life. Because of advances in medical technology over the last 30 years, prenatal care (medical care during pregnancy) has improved, which has dramatically reduced the number of late and term stillbirths. However, the rate of early stillbirth has remained about the same over time.
This does not mean that every individual of black race or older age is at higher risk for having a stillbirth. It simply means that overall as a group, more stillbirths occur among all mothers of black race or older age when compared to white mothers and mothers under 35 years of age. Some factors that might contribute to these stillbirth disparities include differences in maternal preconception health, socioeconomic status, access to quality health care, and stress.2 More research is needed to determine what is underlying reason why some of these factors are associated with stillbirths.
Stillbirth is when a baby dies in the womb after 20 weeks of pregnancy. Most stillbirths happen before a pregnant person goes into labor, but a small number happen during labor and birth. Stillbirth affects about 1 in 160 pregnancies each year in the United States.
We do not know exactly why, but stillbirth happens more often in some groups compared with others. We call this a health disparity (difference). To understand why these groups are at a higher risk of having a stillbirth we need to look at the social factors affecting them, this is what we call social determinants of health. These are the conditions in which you are born, grow, work, live and age. These conditions affect your health throughout your life. In many cases, social determinants of health and health disparities are related to racism.
According to data from the CDC (2017), there are there are major differences in stillbirth rates among different groups. For Black people, the stillbirth rate is more than double the rate than other groups, except when compared with American Indian/Alaskan Native people. These are rates per 1,000 live births and stillbirths. See the data below:
Being a person of color is not a cause for having a stillbirth. However, communities of color are disproportionately affected by racism. Racism and unequal living conditions affect their health and well-being and puts them at higher risk of pregnancy complications, such as stillbirth.
The most common symptom of stillbirth is when you stop feeling your baby moving and kicking. Others include cramps, pain or bleeding from the vagina. Call your health care provider right away or go to the emergency room if you have any of these conditions.
Your provider checks your baby, the placenta and the umbilical cord to try to find out why your baby died. The placenta grows in your uterus and supplies the baby with food and oxygen through the umbilical cord. Your provider may ask to do certain tests to try and find out what caused the stillbirth. Tests may include:
Infections in the mother or baby. Some infections may not cause signs or symptoms and may not be diagnosed until they cause serious complications, like premature birth or stillbirth. Infections that can cause stillbirth include:
Grief is all the feelings you have when someone close to you dies. Having a stillborn baby is a painful loss for a family. But there are things you can do to help you grieve, heal and remember your baby.
Talking about your feelings with other parents who have had a stillbirth may help you deal with your grief. Visit shareyourstory.org, the March of Dimes online community where families who have lost a baby can talk to and support each other. Sharing your story may ease your pain and help you heal.
Having a stillbirth may make you at risk for postpartum depression (also called PPD). PPD is a kind of depression that some women get after having a baby. Tell your provider if you have signs or symptoms of PPD, like feeling depressed most of the day every day, having little interest in things you normally like to do, or having trouble eating or sleeping.
The New York State Department of Health and the New York City Department of Health give Fetal Death Certificates. A mother (patient) can receive a certificate from the NYS Department of Health if the fetal death took place outside of New York City. She can receive a certificate from the NYC Department of Health if the fetal death took place in New York City.New York State Public Health Law says fetal death is death while still in the mother.
The New York State Department of Health and the New York City Department of Health give Certificates of Still Birth. Parents can receive a certificate from the NYS Department of Health if the still birth took place outside of New York City. Parents can receive the certificate from the New York City Department of Health if the still birth took place in New York City.
Funding long-term care (LTC) is a challenge under the existing Beveridgean universal healthcare system. The Autonomy Insurance (AI) plan developed in Quebec was an attempt to introduce public LTC insurance into our healthcare system. The AI benefit was based on an assessment of the needs of older people and those with disabilities using a disability scale (SMAF) and case-mix classification system (Iso-SMAF Profiles). Under the plan, the benefit would be used to fund public institutions or purchase services from private organizations. Case managers were responsible for assessments and helping users and their families plan services and decide how to use the AI benefit. Funding AI was based on general tax revenues without capitalized funding, under a separate protected budget program. Projections were made for the additional budget needed to support AI, which would have mitigated the forecast increase in LTC spending due to population aging. All the legal, administrative, funding, training and contractual issues were dealt with, for implementation of the plan in April 2015. Unfortunately, the project was still-born for political reasons, but it demonstrates the feasibility of this essential innovation for Canada.
This article covers your rights at work if you have a miscarriage, stillbirth, or if your baby dies. If your baby is born dead before the 24th week of pregnancy, it is called a miscarriage. If your baby is born dead after the beginning of the 24th week of pregnancy it is called a stillbirth.
If you have a stillbirth, or if your baby is born alive but later dies, even after a few seconds (and even if this takes place before the 24th week of pregnancy), you are entitled to all your maternity rights.
If you have a partner who is eligible for paternity leave, they will still be entitled to take this after a stillbirth. This leave must be completed within 56 days of the birth. However, if the baby was born early, the leave must be completed within the period from the actual date of birth to 56 days after the expected week of birth.
The rules are slightly different for Shared Parental Leave and Pay if your baby passes away. If you or your partner had given notice before the birth of the baby to take Shared Parental Leave and the baby is born but then dies, you or your partner are entitled to take the leave that has already been booked.
In case of a stillbirth (where a baby is born dead after 24 weeks of pregnancy), the regulations are unclear but it is unlikely that you will be entitled to Shared Parental Leave. In such cases, the mother can still take maternity leave and the partner can still take paternity leave (assuming they are eligible).
If you have a stillbirth, or a live birth but the baby dies afterwards, you may be entitled to the Sure Start Maternity Grant (in Scotland, the Best Start Grant) and/or the Funeral Expenses Payment (in Scotland, the Funeral Support Payment).
When breeding cats, it is inevitable that some kittens will die, and a low level of loss has to be expected. Generally pedigree cats have higher levels of kitten death than non-pedigrees. In one large study of pedigree cats, around 7% of kittens were still-born (dead at birth), and a further 9% died during the first eight weeks of life (most in the first 1-3 weeks). The proportion of kittens alive at 8 weeks of age varied between breeds (from around 75% to 95%) with the highest mortality among Persian kittens.
Newborn kittens are vulnerable because mechanisms which regulate temperature control are poorly developed, they are at increased risk of dehydration and low blood sugar (hypoglycaemia), and the immune system is immature. Therefore, regardless of the initiating cause, these kittens can rapidly die.
Severe defects usually result in stillbirth or early neonatal death. Milder disorders may result in fading kittens, or only become apparent later in life. Because inbreeding increases the risk of genetic disease, congenital disorders are seen more frequently in pedigree cats.
Underweight kittens are particularly susceptible to hypothermia, dehydration, respiratory failure and infections, and have a significantly increased risk of neonatal death. Kittens may be born underweight because of maternal malnutrition or ill-health, congenital disease, infections, or any condition that results in poor placental blood supply.
The average birth weight for most breeds of cat and moggies is around 90-100g, but it is normal for some breeds to have smaller kittens (e.g., Orientals) and some to have larger kittens (e.g., Maine Coon). In general, newborn kittens weighing less than 75g are likely to have an increased risk of death. 041b061a72