Understanding Stillbirth
What is Stillbirth?
The loss of a baby in the womb or during delivery (delivered on or after the 24th week of pregnancy) is referred to as stillbirth.
Why Is A Baby Stillborn?
Most often a stillbirth is detected early on when the baby is in the womb and sometimes there can be no clue until labour. In many cases, it may not be possible to identify the specific cause of stillbirth but some of the factors that could be responsible are:
Warning Signs of Stillbirth
The signs of a possible stillbirth varies in each woman. However some of the more prominent symptoms that could indicate that something is wrong include:
Stay Alert. Keep A Close Watch
It is very important to pay close attention to your baby’s developments and also keep track of the fetal growth. If you sense that something is not right, do not hesitate to call your doctor immediately.
There are a couple of things that you can do at home to help monitor your baby’s health.
Factors Leading to Stillbirth
Though the chances of stillbirth are very rare in healthy pregnancies, there are several known risk factors that could affect the growing fetus. Smoking, alcohol and drug abuse, age of the mother, pre-existing health problems (high blood pressure or diabetes) are some of the factors that could increase the risk of stillbirth.
Treatment Of Stillbirth
Several factors like gestation period, fetus size and time since heartbeat stopped are taken into consideration, before treatment of stillbirth. On the basis of these factors, the treatment could be:
Coping With Stillbirth
The sudden and unexpected loss of the baby can be a devastating experience. The emotional trauma is not only hard to cope with but is also very exhausting physically. While some women try to overcome their feelings by carrying on with their normal activities, in others, the pain may last much longer, with memories haunting them time and again.
Each woman has her own way of dealing with the grief. However, there are many ways that can help ease distress. Pouring out your feelings to somebody who’s ready to lend a shoulder, finding a support network of families affected by stillbirth, talking to a counselor who can relate to your loss can all be beneficial in helping you cope with the trauma.
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Prunes and dates are known to strengthen the uterus muscles and ease child delivery. They also reduce chances of bleeding that might occur after delivery.
Methi (Fenugreek) induces and eases the child birth during labor by stimulating uterine contractions and reducing the labor pain. However, excess intake during pregnancy could be counter active as it increases the risk of miscarriage as well as premature childbirth.
One of the ways to tell a false labour from a true one is to time the contractions. False labour contractions are irregular and die down with time, while true labour contractions come at regular intervals and are persistent.
Make a checklist of all things you need to take to the hospital and pack them in your bag so that it’s all ready when you need it. Remember to pack the baby’s stuff too like clothes, nappies, blankets, booties and mittens.
To soothe labour pain, place a hot water compress bag (take care not to fill it with boiling water) on the aching areas and massage your back gently.
To make the task of picking a baby name easier, make a list of your favourite ones and keep adding them to the list. While short-listing, read each name aloud to see how it sounds with the surname.
