# Stillbirth Collaborative Research Network causes-of-death study Study · id `maternal:scrn-causes-of-stillbirth` · Maternal & Newborn Atlas · release `c7fb95f1d15a7d13` (public) > General information from published sources, not medical advice, and not reviewed by clinicians. Check the cited source before relying on anything here. The atlas's own text and curation may be reused under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/): credit the atlas, and do not use it commercially. See the atlas About page. Text quoted from a source stays under that source's own terms, given as the source's reuse\_basis. The atlas's reuse terms do not cover it. The downloads list each quotation with its source in third\_party\_quotations. Browse, life stage: Pregnancy; Childbirth Browse, care area: The baby before birth ## In plain language A US study that gave families who had a stillbirth full examinations, including of the baby and the placenta, to work out why the baby died. A probable cause was found in about six in ten stillbirths. The most common causes were problems with the pregnancy and with the placenta. ## Technical summary Population-based study of stillbirths at 20 weeks or later in 59 hospitals in 5 US catchment areas, March 2006 to September 2008 (JAMA 2011). 663 women enrolled; 500 consented to postmortem examination of 512 babies. Probable cause in 60.9% and possible or probable cause in 76.2%. Funded by NICHD according to the PubMed grant list (U10 and U01 awards). Only the abstract was read. ## Key facts - Design: Population-based study with surveillance for all stillbirths at 20 weeks or later in 59 tertiary care and community hospitals in 5 catchment areas defined to ensure access to at least 90% of deliveries. Standardized evaluations at delivery; fetal postmortem and placental pathology, karyotype and other tests; systematic assignment of causes of death. - Phase: Not reported - Enrolled: 663 women (with stillbirth, enrolled) (enrolled count; Causes of death among stillbirths, snapshot `maternal:pubmed-22166605-2026-10-14`, retrieved 2026-10-14); 512 infants (stillborn babies whose parents consented to complete postmortem examination; the abstract calls them neonates) (analyzed count; Causes of death among stillbirths, snapshot `maternal:pubmed-22166605-2026-10-14`, retrieved 2026-10-14) - Started: Not reported - Primary completion: Not reported - Completion: Not reported - Countries: Not reported - Care setting: Not reported - Registry status: Not reported ## Claims, with the population each applies to ## Context: Stillbirths at 20 weeks or later in five US catchment areas, 2006 to 2008 (Stillbirth Collaborative Research Network) Recipient: Fetal; Population: Stillbirths at 20 weeks of gestation or later in 59 hospitals in 5 catchment areas defined by state and county boundaries. Termination of a live fetus was excluded. 663 women with stillbirth were enrolled and 500 consented to postmortem examination of 512 babies. The women were enrolled; the stillborn babies are the people whose cause of death was assessed.; Care setting: 59 tertiary care and community hospitals; Geography: United States (five catchment areas); Life stage: Pregnancy loss at 20 weeks or later, before or during delivery; Gestational age: at least 20 weeks 0 days (140 days), measured at birth; Postnatal age: Not reported; Follow-up: Standardized evaluations at delivery, fetal postmortem and placental pathology, karyotype and other laboratory tests ### The Stillbirth Collaborative Research Network studied stillbirths at 20 weeks of gestation or later in 59 hospitals in five US catchment areas between March 2006 and September 2008. Of 663 women with stillbirth who were enrolled, 500 consented to postmortem examination of 512 babies. A probable cause of death was found in 312 stillbirths (60.9%; 95% CI 56.5% to 65.2%) and a possible or probable cause in 390 (76.2%). The most common causes were obstetric conditions (150, 29.3%) and placental abnormalities (121, 23.6%), followed by fetal genetic or structural abnormalities (70, 13.7%), infection (66, 12.9%), umbilical cord abnormalities (53, 10.4%), hypertensive disorders (47, 9.2%) and other maternal medical conditions (40, 7.8%). The distribution differed by race and ethnicity. - Category: Description - Evidence stage: Observational - Certainty: Certainty not assessed - Applies to: Recipient: Fetal; Population: Stillbirths at 20 weeks of gestation or later in 59 hospitals in 5 catchment areas defined by state and county boundaries. Termination of a live fetus was excluded. 663 women with stillbirth were enrolled and 500 consented to postmortem examination of 512 babies. The women were enrolled; the stillborn babies are the people whose cause of death was assessed.; Care setting: 59 tertiary care and community hospitals; Geography: United States (five catchment areas); Life stage: Pregnancy loss at 20 weeks or later, before or during delivery; Gestational age: at least 20 weeks 0 days (140 days), measured at birth; Postnatal age: Not reported; Follow-up: Standardized evaluations at delivery, fetal postmortem and placental pathology, karyotype and other laboratory tests - Limitations: The percentages add to more than 100, and the abstract does not say how stillbirths with more than one cause were counted. Only 500 of 663 enrolled women consented to postmortem examination. The study covers five US areas in 2006 to 2008 and may not describe other places or years. Termination of a live fetus was excluded. Only the abstract was read. - Last checked: 2026-10-14 - Sources: 1. Supports: Causes of death among stillbirths (Publication, edition PubMed record (abstract and bibliographic data) from NCBI E-utilities, retrieved 2026-10-14. The full text and the version of record were not read.) Locator: Abstract, DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS, sentence 1, fragment 1 of 2. Retrieved 2026-10-14T18:18:39Z. Source state: Current. Snapshot hash: 272e61d932ffe7f3ecf5e267e81a532966ffed45cbdb81ce538e3cf73a176058. How it applies: PubMed abstract. 2. Supports: Causes of death among stillbirths (Publication, edition PubMed record (abstract and bibliographic data) from NCBI E-utilities, retrieved 2026-10-14. The full text and the version of record were not read.) Locator: Abstract, DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS, sentence 1, fragment 2 of 2. Retrieved 2026-10-14T18:18:39Z. Source state: Current. Snapshot hash: 272e61d932ffe7f3ecf5e267e81a532966ffed45cbdb81ce538e3cf73a176058. How it applies: PubMed abstract. 3. Supports: Causes of death among stillbirths (Publication, edition PubMed record (abstract and bibliographic data) from NCBI E-utilities, retrieved 2026-10-14. The full text and the version of record were not read.) Locator: Abstract, DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS, sentence 2. Retrieved 2026-10-14T18:18:39Z. Source state: Current. Snapshot hash: 272e61d932ffe7f3ecf5e267e81a532966ffed45cbdb81ce538e3cf73a176058. How it applies: PubMed abstract. 4. Supports: Causes of death among stillbirths (Publication, edition PubMed record (abstract and bibliographic data) from NCBI E-utilities, retrieved 2026-10-14. The full text and the version of record were not read.) Locator: Abstract, RESULTS, sentence 1. Retrieved 2026-10-14T18:18:39Z. Source state: Current. Snapshot hash: 272e61d932ffe7f3ecf5e267e81a532966ffed45cbdb81ce538e3cf73a176058. How it applies: PubMed abstract. 5. Supports: Causes of death among stillbirths (Publication, edition PubMed record (abstract and bibliographic data) from NCBI E-utilities, retrieved 2026-10-14. The full text and the version of record were not read.) Locator: Abstract, RESULTS, sentence 2, fragment 1 of 2. Retrieved 2026-10-14T18:18:39Z. Source state: Current. Snapshot hash: 272e61d932ffe7f3ecf5e267e81a532966ffed45cbdb81ce538e3cf73a176058. How it applies: PubMed abstract. 6. Supports: Causes of death among stillbirths (Publication, edition PubMed record (abstract and bibliographic data) from NCBI E-utilities, retrieved 2026-10-14. The full text and the version of record were not read.) Locator: Abstract, RESULTS, sentence 2, fragment 2 of 2. Retrieved 2026-10-14T18:18:39Z. Source state: Current. Snapshot hash: 272e61d932ffe7f3ecf5e267e81a532966ffed45cbdb81ce538e3cf73a176058. How it applies: PubMed abstract. 7. Supports: Causes of death among stillbirths (Publication, edition PubMed record (abstract and bibliographic data) from NCBI E-utilities, retrieved 2026-10-14. The full text and the version of record were not read.) Locator: Abstract, RESULTS, sentence 3, fragment 1 of 3. Retrieved 2026-10-14T18:18:39Z. Source state: Current. Snapshot hash: 272e61d932ffe7f3ecf5e267e81a532966ffed45cbdb81ce538e3cf73a176058. How it applies: PubMed abstract. 8. Supports: Causes of death among stillbirths (Publication, edition PubMed record (abstract and bibliographic data) from NCBI E-utilities, retrieved 2026-10-14. The full text and the version of record were not read.) Locator: Abstract, RESULTS, sentence 3, fragment 2 of 3. Retrieved 2026-10-14T18:18:39Z. Source state: Current. Snapshot hash: 272e61d932ffe7f3ecf5e267e81a532966ffed45cbdb81ce538e3cf73a176058. How it applies: PubMed abstract. 9. Supports: Causes of death among stillbirths (Publication, edition PubMed record (abstract and bibliographic data) from NCBI E-utilities, retrieved 2026-10-14. The full text and the version of record were not read.) Locator: Abstract, RESULTS, sentence 3, fragment 3 of 3. Retrieved 2026-10-14T18:18:39Z. Source state: Current. Snapshot hash: 272e61d932ffe7f3ecf5e267e81a532966ffed45cbdb81ce538e3cf73a176058. How it applies: PubMed abstract. 10. Supports: Causes of death among stillbirths (Publication, edition PubMed record (abstract and bibliographic data) from NCBI E-utilities, retrieved 2026-10-14. The full text and the version of record were not read.) Locator: Abstract, CONCLUSIONS, sentence 2. Retrieved 2026-10-14T18:18:39Z. Source state: Current. Snapshot hash: 272e61d932ffe7f3ecf5e267e81a532966ffed45cbdb81ce538e3cf73a176058. How it applies: PubMed abstract. ## Connected pages - Assigns causes of death to stillbirths: Stillbirth (`maternal:stillbirth`) - Funder (NICHD awards in the PubMed grant list): Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) (`maternal:nichd`) ## Provenance Content hash: 6d809c6cfc99ad4ad5f202280ad29d615cbffe2ddc051c92f6ca0a4039c0d967 Last substantive edit: 2026-10-14 Evidence last checked: 2026-10-14