(Press-News.org) The rate of stillbirths in British Columbia, Canada, increased by 31% over a decade, although the rate of spontaneous stillbirths did not increase, according to a study published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal).
Stillbirth rates, which had been declining for decades, have increased or plateaued in several industrialized countries. For example, rates in Australia have increased from 7.0 per 1000 total births in 2000 to 7.8 per 1000 in 2009 and in Canada, rates have increased from 6.0 per 1000 total births in 2000 to 7.1 per 1000 in 2009. The United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand have also seen rates increase or plateau.
"The prevention of stillbirth through early delivery of the compromised fetus is considered the cornerstone of modern obstetrics," writes Dr. K.S. Joseph, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology and School of Population and Public Health, University of British Columbia, with coauthors. "The recent trends in stillbirth rates are therefore disquieting given developments in fetal surveillance techniques, increased monitoring of high-risk pregnancies and simultaneous increases in obstetric intervention."
To understand the reasons for these recent increases, BC researchers looked at data on all stillbirths of 20 weeks' gestation or older in the province from 2000 to 2010. There were 461 083 live births and 3991 stillbirths in the 10-year period. The rate of stillbirths increased 31%, from 8.08 per 1000 total births in 2000 to 10.55 per 1000 in 2010. Stillbirths among fetuses under 500 g birth weight increased significantly, from 2.36 per 1000 total births to 2.84 per 1000 but decreased from 2.73 to 1.95 per 1000 total births in the 1000-g or heavier category. Stillbirths before 22 weeks' gestation increased from 2.71 per 1000 total births to 3.71 per 1000. The study found that the increase in stillbirth rates was due to increases in prenatal diagnosis and pregnancy termination of fetuses with congenital anomalies or other reasons.
"Increases in pregnancy terminations were responsible for the increases observed in stillbirth rates from 2000 to 2010 and were associated with declines in the prevalence of congenital abnormalities among live-born infants," write the authors.
After excluding stillbirths due to pregnancy terminations, the researchers found a non-significant decline in the rate of spontaneous stillbirths.
They suggest that "advances in, and increased uptake of, prenatal diagnosis are having a population-level impact on the timing of death and the gestational age at delivery of fetuses with congenital anomalies."
On the other hand, the researchers identified archaic stillbirth registration rules that place an undue psychosocial burden on mothers and families. "Legal requirements for stillbirth registration add unnecessary stress to grieving parents and should be revamped," says Cheryl Davies, an author of the study and Vice-President, Ambulatory Programs at the Women's Hospital and Health Centre of British Columbia.
"Future research examining temporal trends and regional variations in stillbirth rates should focus separately on spontaneous stillbirths and those due to pregnancy termination," they conclude.
### END
Stillbirth rates have increased significantly, although spontaneous stillbirth rates have not
2013-04-08
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Personal preventive health practices of physicians can benefit patients
2013-04-08
There is a direct, positive link between physicians' preventive health practices and those of their patients, found a study published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal).
Researchers looked at the screening and vaccination practices of 1488 physicians and their 1 886 791 adult patients in Israel's largest health maintenance organization, Clalit Health Services (CHS). These practices included age appropriate mammography, blood pressure measurement, colorectal screening, annual influenza vaccinations and others. For example, among patients whose physicians had ...
Healthy doctors make healthy patients, study finds
2013-04-08
Patients are more likely to follow preventive health practices like getting a flu shot or mammography if their doctors do likewise, researchers at the University of British Columbia and in Israel have discovered.
"We found that patients whose physicians adhered to the recommended screening or vaccination practices were significantly more likely to also undergo screening or vaccination compared with patients of non-compliant physicians," said Dr. Erica Frank of UBC's School of Population and Public Health.
Dr. Frank worked with three Israeli researchers and their findings ...
Migraine triggers tricky to pinpoint
2013-04-08
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – April 8, 2013 – Women often point to stress, hormones, alcohol, or even the weather as possible triggers for their migraines. But a new study from Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center found that it is nearly impossible for patients to determine the true cause of their migraine episodes without undergoing formal experiments.
The majority of migraine sufferers try to figure out for themselves what causes their headaches based on real world conditions, said lead author Timothy T. Houle, Ph.D, associate professor of anesthesia and neurology at Wake Forest ...
Cry me a river of possibility: Scientists design new adaptive material inspired by tears
2013-04-08
Imagine a tent that blocks light on a dry and sunny day, and becomes transparent and water-repellent on a dim, rainy day. Or highly precise, self-adjusting contact lenses that also clean themselves. Or pipelines that can optimize the rate of flow depending on the volume of fluid coming through them and the environmental conditions outside.
A team of researchers at the Wyss Institute at Harvard University and Harvard's School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) just moved these enticing notions much closer to reality by designing a new kind of adaptive material ...
Copying is social phenomenon, not just learning, say scientists
2013-04-08
Mimicking the behaviour of mum and dad has long been considered a vital way in which children learn about the world around them.
Now psychologists at The University of Nottingham have shown that copying unnecessary behaviour is more likely to be a social phenomenon than part of the practical process of acquiring new skills.
In their study, published today in the journal Current Biology, the scientists found that autistic children, who have profound difficulty in engaging in social situations, were less likely to copy unnecessary behaviour when learning a new task.
The ...
Technique finds software bugs in surgical robots and helps developers fix flaws, ensure safety
2013-04-08
PITTSBURGH—Surgical robots could make some types of surgery safer and more effective, but proving that the software controlling these machines works as intended is problematic. Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University and the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory have demonstrated that methods for reliably detecting software bugs and ultimately verifying software safety can be applied successfully to this breed of robot.
They used theorem-proving techniques to analyze a control algorithm for a research robot that would help a surgeon perform surgery at ...
Fatheads: How neurons protect themselves against excess fat
2013-04-08
We're all fatheads. That is, our brain cells are packed with fat molecules, more of them than almost any other cell type. Still, if the brain cells' fat content gets too high, they'll be in trouble. In a recent study in mice, researchers at Johns Hopkins pinpointed an enzyme that keeps neurons' fat levels under control, and may be implicated in human neurological diseases. Their findings are published in the May 2013 issue of Molecular and Cellular Biology.
"There are known connections between problems with how the body's cells process fats and neurodegenerative diseases ...
Legislation can curb discrimination against gays and lesbians in employment situations
2013-04-08
Antidiscrimination laws can have a significant positive impact on how gays and lesbians are treated in employment situations, according to new research from Rice University. The study on public awareness of sexual-orientation employment-antidiscrimination laws is one of the first to provide empirical evidence for the likely impact of pending antidiscrimination legislation.
"In many U.S. states and localities (including much of Texas), gays and lesbians remain unprotected from employment discrimination," said Laura Barron, a 2008 Rice alumna and now personnel research ...
For breast cancer screening, 1 size doesn't fit all
2013-04-08
Philadelphia, PA, April 8, 2013 – Although mammography, the gold standard of breast cancer screening, reduces breast cancer mortality, it has important limitations. Critics point to reduced sensitivity for women with dense breasts, a high rate of false positives leading to excessive biopsies, and concerns about long-term effects of repeated radiation. With greater understanding of risk stratification, the authors of this review envision a re-thinking of the typical breast cancer paradigm to include new technologies that allow a more individualized approach that integrates ...
Religious, nonreligious organizations may have similar impact on immigrants
2013-04-08
Religious and nonreligious organizations may have a similar impact on the ability of immigrants to acclimate to life in the U.S., despite the organizations' different motivations for providing charitable services, according to new research from Rice University.
"There's been a lot of discussion as to whether religious organizations offer some special or unique benefit to immigrant groups that will help them better adapt to American society," said the study's lead author, Elaine Howard Ecklund, the Herbert S. Autrey Professor of Sociology and director of Rice's Religion ...