More research is needed into the causes of stillbirth in particular the role of the placenta, says a leading professor at the 9th International Scientific Meeting of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) in Athens today.
Professor Gordon Smith, says that stillbirth is now as common as infant death however there has been much less success in discovering the causes.
Stillbirth affects around one in 200 pregnancies and at least half of all stillbirths are linked to problems with the placenta such as problems associated with pre-eclampsia, premature separation of the placenta and failure to provide the fetus with adequate oxygenated blood.
An effective screening programme is needed for detecting stillbirth says Professor Smith. It is likely that the combination of ultrasound and biochemical markers of placental function could identify mothers at risk, but more basic research is required to identify clinically useful blood tests.
Professor Smith says:
“Down’s syndrome screening is effective and I’d like to see the same sort of programme introduced for screening for stillbirth. More research is needed to gain a better understanding of the causes of stillbirth as there is an absence of information and clinical tools for detecting it.
“In particular we need a greater understanding of placental development and function as a large proportion of stillbirths can be linked to a failing placenta. One way of reducing the rate of stillbirth may be to investigate this further and enable development of screening tools to identify women at risk.”
Ends
The 9th International Scientific Meeting of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists is a joint meeting with the Hellenic Obstetric & Gynaecological Society, and is being held in Athens, Greece from September 27-30, 2011.
For more information about the meeting please visit: http://www.rcog2011.com/
For media enquiries please contact Naomi Weston on 020 77726357 or nweston@rcog.org.uk
