Does the fetus lose weight in utero following fetal death: a study in preterm infants

Objective To evaluate whether the fetus loses weight in utero following fetal death, looking specifically at weight differences according to whether the death occurred during labour or before labour. Design Record linkage of maternity data and perinatal mortality data. Setting Scotland, UK. Population A group of 8069 singleton live and stillbirths without obvious congenital abnormalities delivered at 24–32 weeks. Main outcome measure Birthweight. Results Stillborn infants weighed less than liveborns of equivalent gestational age at delivery. Stillborn infants in whom the death occurred during labour weighed more than those in whom the death occurred before labour; this applied to both vaginal deliveries and those by caesarean section. Conclusions These findings could be attributed to the hypothesis that the low birthweight of stillborn infants is due to weight loss following the death, in addition to any process of growth restriction before the death. The analysis described here contains no data which would negate this hypothesis.