Home |Our other BESS Group projects
Why can stillbirth be caused by problems with the placenta?
A stillbirth is when a baby dies after 24 weeks of pregnancy or during birth. Sometimes it is caused by problems with the placenta. The placenta is part of the mother’s womb that supplies food and oxygen to the unborn baby. It also removes waste products from the baby’s blood and can protect the baby from certain diseases. If there is a problem with the placenta the baby may not get enough food or oxygen to grow and survive. The baby might be smaller than expected and this could cause a problem called foetal growth restriction (FGR). FGR is a risk factor for stillbirth. Sometimes the placenta can separate from the womb before the baby is born and lead to the loss of a baby. High blood pressure in the mother during pregnancy can also increase the risk of a stillbirth. We want to find out whether screening (testing mothers without symptoms) for problems with the placenta would lead to fewer babies being stillborn.
Why might screening not be a good idea?
All screening has the potential to cause harm as well as benefit. It can identify things that would never have caused problems, leading to unnecessary worry and treatment. Screening can sometimes raise false alarms when a test result suggests something is wrong but further tests show there’s no issue, which can be stressful. Some real cases can also be missed, which can give false reassurance and delay diagnosis and treatment. Before starting or changing any screening programme, we need to understand if it works better than not screening, or better than the current approach.
What are we trying to find out?
The UK National Screening Committee wants to find out whether screening for stillbirth caused by problems with the placenta during pregnancy would lead to fewer babies being stillborn. As a first step, they need to check if there is enough reliable evidence to support exploring the topic in more depth. We’re looking at how many studies and what types of studies have looked at the following questions:
- How well do screening tests work to find pregnancies at risk of stillbirth caused by problems with the placenta?
- What methods are used to monitor pregnancies that are at risk of stillbirth because of placenta problems?
- What treatments can help reduce the risk of stillbirth caused by placenta problems?