How will a pregnant woman react to a stillbirth?

Pregnancy is a very important thing for a woman. To be a complete woman in her life, she should get pregnant and have children. However, some pregnant women are in poor health and are prone to stillbirth in the early stages of pregnancy. Some of them are due to fetal maldevelopment, lack of oxygen, or excessive exercise, which can lead to symptoms of stillbirth. But the situations of pregnant women are different, so how will pregnant women react to stillbirth? What does stillbirth feel like?

What are the symptoms of stillbirth?

1. Fetal movement stops, fetal heart rate disappears, and the uterus stops expanding.

2. The fundus of the uterus and abdominal circumference shrink, and the feeling of breast distension disappears and shrinks.

3. If the fetus remains still for too long, it may cause the expectant mother to feel general fatigue, loss of appetite, abdominal distension, postpartum hemorrhage or disseminated intravascular coagulation. About 80% of fetal death are delivered naturally within 2-3 weeks. If the fetus is still not expelled 3 weeks after death, the degenerative placental tissue releases thromboplastin into the maternal blood circulation, activating coagulation factors in the blood vessels and easily causing disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC). If the fetus dies in utero for more than 4 weeks, the chance of DIC increases, which can cause severe bleeding during delivery.

Causes of stillbirth

1. Placental and umbilical cord factors: such as placenta previa, placental abruption, vasa previa, acute chorioamnionitis, velamentous adhesion of the umbilical cord, umbilical cord knotting, umbilical cord prolapse, umbilical cord around the neck, etc., massive placental bleeding or umbilical cord abnormalities, leading to fetal hypoxia.

2. Fetal factors: such as severe fetal malformation, fetal growth restriction, twin-twin transfusion syndrome, fetal infection, serious genetic diseases, maternal-fetal blood type incompatibility, etc.

3. Factors affecting pregnant women: severe pregnancy complications, such as gestational hypertension, antiphospholipid antibody syndrome, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, shock caused by various reasons, etc. Local factors in the uterus, such as excessive uterine tension or strong contraction, uterine malformation, uterine rupture, etc., can cause local ischemia and affect the placenta and fetus.

Diagnosis of stillbirth

1. The expectant mother feels that the fetal movement has stopped, the fetal heartbeat has disappeared, and the size of the uterus does not match the corresponding month of pregnancy.

2. B-ultrasound examination showed no fetal heart rate or fetal movement, and skull overlap.

3. X-ray examination: The fetal spine is angularly curved.

4. The level of alpha-fetoprotein in amniotic fluid increases significantly.

5. Urine estriol content <3 mg/24 hours.