Stillbirth in the U.S.

Stillbirth affects thousands of families in the United States each year, and is rarely talked about. Let’s change that. Learn more about the impact and prevalence of stillbirth in the U.S.

Did you know that every day in the U.S. around 65 babies are born still?

On average, 21,219 babies are born still every year in the U.S.  This is the equivalent of a school bus full of children every day. 

According to the CDC, 1 in every 177 pregnancies will end in a stillbirth. A disproportionate number of babies are born still to Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, Black, and American Indian or Alaska Native families. According to the CDC:

• Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander pregnancies have a 1 in 97 chance of ending in stillbirth.
• Black pregnancies have a 1 in 100 chance of ending in stillbirth.
• American Indian or Alaska Native pregnancies have a 1 in 139 chance of ending in stillbirth.
• Hispanic pregnancies have a 1 in 216 chance of ending in stillbirth.
• White pregnancies have a 1 in 223 chance of ending in stillbirth.
• Asian pregnancies have a 1 in 270 chance of ending in stillbirth.

Stillbirth is JUST AS prevalent as infant mortality.

Definitions:

Stillbirth: A stillbirth is the loss of a baby after 20 weeks of pregnancy. Stillbirth is further classified as either early, late, or term.

• An early stillbirth is a fetal death occurring between 20 and 27 completed weeks of pregnancy.
• A late stillbirth occurs between 28 and 36 completed pregnancy weeks.
• A term stillbirth occurs between 37 or more completed pregnancy weeks.

Miscarriage: A miscarriage is usually defined as loss of a baby before the 20th week of pregnancy

Infant Mortality: The death of an infant before his or her first birthday. On average around 22,000 infants die every year in the U.S.

Risk Factors for Stillbirth

What are some of the risk factors for stillbirth?

According to this ACOG Consensus Statement the following are risk factors for stillbirth:

• Non-Hispanic black race
• Nulliparity
• Advanced maternal age
• Obesity
• Preexisting diabetes
• Chronic hypertension
• Smoking
• Alcohol use
• Having a pregnancy using assisted reproductive technology
• Multiple gestation
• Male fetal sex
• Unmarried status
• Past obstetric history

According to the same ACOG Consensus Statement – “Implicit and explicit bias and racism are implicated in many health disparities including perinatal morbidity and mortality.”

Risk-factors aside, we know stillbirth happens even in healthy, low-risk pregnancies, which is why we are working to raise awareness about stillbirth and prevent stillbirths through the evidence-based Count the Kicks public health campaign.