Maternal & Newborn Atlas
About
Menu

Stillbirth Collaborative Research Network causes-of-death study

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.

  • Study
  • In this atlas

Overview

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, retrieved )
  • 512 infants (stillborn babies whose parents consented to complete postmortem examination; the abstract calls them neonates) (analyzed count) (Causes of death among stillbirths, retrieved )
Sponsor
Not recorded
Registry
Not reported
Started
Not reported
Primary completion
Not reported
Completion
Not reported
Countries
Not reported
Care setting
Not reported
Registry status
Not reported

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.

Arms

Not reported

Findings

No findings are published for this study.

Claims and evidence

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
Eligibility: 1 inclusion criterion; 1 exclusion criterion
Included
  • Stillbirth at 20 weeks of gestation or later in the catchment areas
Excluded
  • Termination of a live fetus

  • Description Observational Certainty not assessed

    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.

    Applies to Fetal
    • 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.
    • 59 tertiary care and community hospitals
    • United States (five catchment areas)
    • Pregnancy loss at 20 weeks or later, before or during delivery
    • Gestational age at least 20 weeks 0 days, measured at birth
    • Postnatal age Not reported
    Follow-up Standardized evaluations at delivery, fetal postmortem and placental pathology, karyotype and other laboratory tests
    Certainty method
    Not assessed
    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
    Next evidence check due
    Not scheduled
    Sources and citations (10)

    1. Supports Causes of death among stillbirths

      Publication · JAMA · 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. · Published 2011-12-14 · DOI: 10.1001/jama.2011.1823 · PMID: 22166605

      Locator
      Abstract, DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS, sentence 1, fragment 1 of 2
      How it applies
      PubMed abstract.
      Retrieved
      Source effective date
      Not reported
      Source state
      Current
      Snapshot hash
      272e61d932ffe7f3ecf5e267e81a532966ffed45cbdb81ce538e3cf73a176058
      Reuse basis
      PubMed record fetched through NCBI E-utilities. Only the hash of the bytes is kept, because publisher copyright may apply to the abstract (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/disclaimer/). Short factual quotations under 25 words, with the citation.

    2. Supports Causes of death among stillbirths

      Publication · JAMA · 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. · Published 2011-12-14 · DOI: 10.1001/jama.2011.1823 · PMID: 22166605

      Locator
      Abstract, DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS, sentence 1, fragment 2 of 2
      How it applies
      PubMed abstract.
      Retrieved
      Source effective date
      Not reported
      Source state
      Current
      Snapshot hash
      272e61d932ffe7f3ecf5e267e81a532966ffed45cbdb81ce538e3cf73a176058
      Reuse basis
      PubMed record fetched through NCBI E-utilities. Only the hash of the bytes is kept, because publisher copyright may apply to the abstract (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/disclaimer/). Short factual quotations under 25 words, with the citation.

    3. Supports Causes of death among stillbirths

      Publication · JAMA · 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. · Published 2011-12-14 · DOI: 10.1001/jama.2011.1823 · PMID: 22166605

      Locator
      Abstract, DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS, sentence 2
      How it applies
      PubMed abstract.
      Retrieved
      Source effective date
      Not reported
      Source state
      Current
      Snapshot hash
      272e61d932ffe7f3ecf5e267e81a532966ffed45cbdb81ce538e3cf73a176058
      Reuse basis
      PubMed record fetched through NCBI E-utilities. Only the hash of the bytes is kept, because publisher copyright may apply to the abstract (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/disclaimer/). Short factual quotations under 25 words, with the citation.

    4. Supports Causes of death among stillbirths

      Publication · JAMA · 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. · Published 2011-12-14 · DOI: 10.1001/jama.2011.1823 · PMID: 22166605

      Locator
      Abstract, RESULTS, sentence 1
      How it applies
      PubMed abstract.
      Retrieved
      Source effective date
      Not reported
      Source state
      Current
      Snapshot hash
      272e61d932ffe7f3ecf5e267e81a532966ffed45cbdb81ce538e3cf73a176058
      Reuse basis
      PubMed record fetched through NCBI E-utilities. Only the hash of the bytes is kept, because publisher copyright may apply to the abstract (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/disclaimer/). Short factual quotations under 25 words, with the citation.

    5. Supports Causes of death among stillbirths

      Publication · JAMA · 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. · Published 2011-12-14 · DOI: 10.1001/jama.2011.1823 · PMID: 22166605

      Locator
      Abstract, RESULTS, sentence 2, fragment 1 of 2
      How it applies
      PubMed abstract.
      Retrieved
      Source effective date
      Not reported
      Source state
      Current
      Snapshot hash
      272e61d932ffe7f3ecf5e267e81a532966ffed45cbdb81ce538e3cf73a176058
      Reuse basis
      PubMed record fetched through NCBI E-utilities. Only the hash of the bytes is kept, because publisher copyright may apply to the abstract (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/disclaimer/). Short factual quotations under 25 words, with the citation.

    6. Supports Causes of death among stillbirths

      Publication · JAMA · 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. · Published 2011-12-14 · DOI: 10.1001/jama.2011.1823 · PMID: 22166605

      Locator
      Abstract, RESULTS, sentence 2, fragment 2 of 2
      How it applies
      PubMed abstract.
      Retrieved
      Source effective date
      Not reported
      Source state
      Current
      Snapshot hash
      272e61d932ffe7f3ecf5e267e81a532966ffed45cbdb81ce538e3cf73a176058
      Reuse basis
      PubMed record fetched through NCBI E-utilities. Only the hash of the bytes is kept, because publisher copyright may apply to the abstract (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/disclaimer/). Short factual quotations under 25 words, with the citation.

    7. Supports Causes of death among stillbirths

      Publication · JAMA · 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. · Published 2011-12-14 · DOI: 10.1001/jama.2011.1823 · PMID: 22166605

      Locator
      Abstract, RESULTS, sentence 3, fragment 1 of 3
      How it applies
      PubMed abstract.
      Retrieved
      Source effective date
      Not reported
      Source state
      Current
      Snapshot hash
      272e61d932ffe7f3ecf5e267e81a532966ffed45cbdb81ce538e3cf73a176058
      Reuse basis
      PubMed record fetched through NCBI E-utilities. Only the hash of the bytes is kept, because publisher copyright may apply to the abstract (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/disclaimer/). Short factual quotations under 25 words, with the citation.

    8. Supports Causes of death among stillbirths

      Publication · JAMA · 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. · Published 2011-12-14 · DOI: 10.1001/jama.2011.1823 · PMID: 22166605

      Locator
      Abstract, RESULTS, sentence 3, fragment 2 of 3
      How it applies
      PubMed abstract.
      Retrieved
      Source effective date
      Not reported
      Source state
      Current
      Snapshot hash
      272e61d932ffe7f3ecf5e267e81a532966ffed45cbdb81ce538e3cf73a176058
      Reuse basis
      PubMed record fetched through NCBI E-utilities. Only the hash of the bytes is kept, because publisher copyright may apply to the abstract (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/disclaimer/). Short factual quotations under 25 words, with the citation.

    9. Supports Causes of death among stillbirths

      Publication · JAMA · 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. · Published 2011-12-14 · DOI: 10.1001/jama.2011.1823 · PMID: 22166605

      Locator
      Abstract, RESULTS, sentence 3, fragment 3 of 3
      How it applies
      PubMed abstract.
      Retrieved
      Source effective date
      Not reported
      Source state
      Current
      Snapshot hash
      272e61d932ffe7f3ecf5e267e81a532966ffed45cbdb81ce538e3cf73a176058
      Reuse basis
      PubMed record fetched through NCBI E-utilities. Only the hash of the bytes is kept, because publisher copyright may apply to the abstract (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/disclaimer/). Short factual quotations under 25 words, with the citation.

    10. Supports Causes of death among stillbirths

      Publication · JAMA · 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. · Published 2011-12-14 · DOI: 10.1001/jama.2011.1823 · PMID: 22166605

      Locator
      Abstract, CONCLUSIONS, sentence 2
      How it applies
      PubMed abstract.
      Retrieved
      Source effective date
      Not reported
      Source state
      Current
      Snapshot hash
      272e61d932ffe7f3ecf5e267e81a532966ffed45cbdb81ce538e3cf73a176058
      Reuse basis
      PubMed record fetched through NCBI E-utilities. Only the hash of the bytes is kept, because publisher copyright may apply to the abstract (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/disclaimer/). Short factual quotations under 25 words, with the citation.

Record details

Record id
maternal:scrn-causes-of-stillbirth
Content hash
6d809c6cfc99ad4ad5f202280ad29d615cbffe2ddc051c92f6ca0a4039c0d967