What does demise mean in pregnancy?
Intrauterine fetal demise is the clinical term for stillbirth used to describe the death of a baby in the uterus. The term is usually applied to losses at or after the 20th week of gestation.
What causes fetal death?
Stillbirth has many causes: intrapartum complications, hypertension, diabetes, infection, congenital and genetic abnormalities, placental dysfunction, and pregnancy continuing beyond forty weeks. This is a catastrophic event with lasting consequences on all of society.
Is fetal demise a miscarriage?
The U.S. medical community most often defines miscarriage (also called spontaneous abortion) as the spontaneous loss of a nonviable, intrauterine pregnancy before 20 weeks gestational age (GA), while stillbirth (also called fetal death and intrauterine fetal demise) describes this event at ≥ 20 weeks GA.
What is the main cause of stillbirth?
Failure of the placenta is the most common known reason for a baby to be stillborn. About half of all stillbirths are linked to complications with the placenta. The placenta provides nutrients (food) and oxygen for the baby when he or she is growing in the womb, connecting the baby to its mother’s blood supply.
How do you get rid of fetal demise?
Surgical management This treatment involves a surgical procedure known as a dilatation and curettage (D&C) which is done under a general anaesthetic. The procedure will remove any pregnancy tissue from your uterus. It is successful in 95 to 100 per cent of cases but there are small surgical risks.
How is fetal death diagnosed?
Death of the fetus after 20 weeks of gestation complicates about 1% of pregnancies. Of various means of diagnosing fetal life and death, real-time ultrasound visualization of the fetal heart is the most accurate.
What are the signs of fetal demise?
The most frequently observed fetal demise symptoms include:
- Spotting or bleeding during pregnancy.
- Pain and cramping.
- Fetal kicking and movement suddenly stops.
- Fetal heartbeat is indetectable with a Doppler or stethoscope.
- Fetal heartbeat and movement is indetectable with an ultrasound.