Neonatal death

Fundamental POINTS

  • The virtually common causes of neonatal death are premature birth, low birthweight and nascence defects.

  • An autopsy may help you find out why your baby died. You lot can choose whether or not you want to have an autopsy on your infant.

  • Your wellness care provider or a genetic counselor may assistance you acquire why your baby died and if you may have the aforementioned bug in some other pregnancy.

  • Getting counseling and support can help you cope with your baby'southward death.

What is neonatal death?

Neonatal death is when a infant dies in the first 28 days of life. If your baby dies this soon after birth, you may accept many questions nigh how and why it happened. Your babe's health intendance provider can aid yous acquire every bit much every bit possible about your baby'southward decease.

Neonatal death happens in about 4 in one,000 babies (less than i pct) each year in the United states. Non-Hispanic blackness women are more than likely to have a baby die than women of other races or ethnicities.

What are mutual causes of neonatal expiry?

The well-nigh common causes of neonatal expiry are:

  • Premature nativity. This is when a baby is born also early, before 37 weeks of pregnancy. Babies born also early on may have more than health issues than babies born on time.
  • Low birthweight. This is when a infant is built-in weighing less than five pounds, eight ounces. Babies born too small-scale may accept more health issues than babies built-in at a salubrious weight.
  • Nascence defects. Birth defects are health conditions that are present at nativity. Birth defects change the shape or function of one or more parts of the body. They can cause problems in overall health, how the body develops or in how the body works.

Premature birth and low birthweight crusade almost ane in 4 neonatal deaths (25 percent). Birth defects cause about 1 in 5 neonatal deaths (20 per centum).

Other causes of neonatal death include:

  • Problems in pregnancy, like preeclampsia. This is a status that can happen after the 20th week of pregnancy or right after pregnancy. It's when a pregnant adult female has high blood pressure and signs that some of her organs, like her kidneys and liver, may not be working properly. Signs of preeclampsia include having poly peptide in the urine, changes in vision and severe headaches.
  • Problems with the placenta, umbilical string and amniotic sac (purse of waters). The placenta grows in your uterus (womb) and supplies the babe with food and oxygen through the umbilical cord. The amniotic sac contains the fluid that surrounds the baby in the womb.
  • Infections, like sepsis. Sepsis is a serious claret infection.
  • Asphyxia. This is when a baby doesn't get enough oxygen earlier or during nativity.

Why are premature babies more than likely to die shortly subsequently birth than babies built-in on time?

Some premature babies may develop serious complications that tin can sometimes cause expiry. These complications include:

  • Respiratory distress syndrome (also called RDS). This is a breathing problem most common in babies born before 34 weeks of pregnancy. Babies with RDS don't have a protein chosen surfactant that keeps modest air sacs in the lungs from collapsing. RDS causes about 825 neonatal deaths each year.
  • Intraventricular hemorrhage (also chosen IVH). This is bleeding in the encephalon. Most brain bleeds are mild and resolve themselves with no or few lasting problems. More than severe bleeds tin cause serious issues for a baby.
  • Necrotizing enterocolitis (too called NEC). This is a trouble with a baby'south intestines. It can cause feeding issues, a swollen belly and diarrhea. It sometimes happens 2 to iii weeks after a premature nativity. It can be treated with medicine and sometimes surgery. Simply in serious cases, information technology tin can cause decease.
  • Infections. Premature babies often have trouble fighting off germs because their allowed systems aren't fully formed. Infections that may cause expiry in a premature baby include pneumonia (a lung infection), sepsis (a blood infection) and meningitis (an infection in the fluid around the brain and spinal cord).

What birth defects about often crusade neonatal death?

The most common nativity defects that cause neonatal death include:

  • Heart defects. Nigh babies with heart defects survive and practise well because of medical treatments and surgery. Simply babies with serious heart defects may not survive long plenty to have handling, or they may not survive after treatment.
  • Lung defects. A baby may be born with issues in i or both lungs or with lungs that aren't fully developed. Lung defects can happen when the lungs don't develop correctly due to other birth defects or pregnancy problems (such as not plenty amniotic fluid). Premature babies can have lung problems that cause neonatal decease.
  • Genetic weather. Genes are part of the cells in your body. They store instructions for the way your body grows, looks and works. Genetic weather condition are acquired by a gene that's changed from its regular course. A gene tin change on its ain, or the changed gene tin can be passed from parents to children.
  • Encephalon conditions. Neonatal death can be caused past bug in the brain, like anencephaly. This is a status called a neural tube defect (also called NTD) in which most of a baby'south brain and skull are missing. Babies with anencephaly may be stillborn (when a infant dies in the womb subsequently twenty weeks of pregnancy) or die in the outset days of life. If y'all've had a baby with anencephaly, talk to your health care provider about taking folic acrid to help prevent NTDs in your next pregnancy.

Your health care provider can employ prenatal tests (medical tests you get during pregnancy) to check your baby for birth defects before birth. These tests include:

  • Amniocentesis (also called amnio). In this test, your provider takes some amniotic fluid from around your babe in the uterus. The exam checks for birth defects and genetic atmospheric condition in your baby. You can go this test at 15 to xx weeks of pregnancy.
  • Chorionic villus sampling (also chosen CVS). This exam checks tissue from the placenta to run into if your baby has a genetic condition, like Down's syndrome. You tin can get CVS at 10 to 13 weeks of pregnancy.
  • Ultrasound. This test uses sound waves and a computer screen to evidence a picture of a babe in the womb. It can help find birth defects similar spina bifida, anencephaly and heart defects.

Practise you need to have an autopsy on your baby?

Your baby's wellness care providers tin tell y'all what they know about what caused your baby to die. If you desire more than information, you may want to have an dissection on your baby. An autopsy is a surgical exam of your baby's body after death to help find the cause of decease and whatsoever diseases or injuries. An autopsy gives data about why a baby dies in more than 1 in 3 cases. This information can be helpful to you if you lot think you may desire to accept another baby in the time to come. It's your choice whether or not to have an autopsy on your baby. Families oft accept to pay for an autopsy, so ask your babe'due south health care provider almost payment. Some hospitals or states may pay for a baby's autopsy; about health insurance companies don't pay for one.

If yous don't desire to have an autopsy, your infant's wellness care provider may be able to use other tests to find more information about why your baby died. These tests include genetic tests, X-rays and tests on the placenta and umbilical string.

If the cause of your infant's decease was a birth defect, you lot can meet with a genetic counselor to larn more than well-nigh it. You also can acquire almost the chances of having another infant with the aforementioned birth defect. A genetic counselor is a person who is trained to help you empathize near how genes, nascence defects and other medical atmospheric condition run in families, and how they can impact your health and your baby's health.

How can yous bargain with your grief?

Talking about your feelings may assistance you deal with the grief you feel near your baby's death. Grief is all the feelings you take when a loved one dies. Visit shareyourstory.org, our online community where families who have lost a baby can talk to and comfort each other. Sharing your babe's story may ease your pain and help you heal.

More information

  • From hurt to healing (free booklet from the March of Dimes for grieving parents)
  • Share Your Story (March of Dimes online community for families to share experiences with prematurity, birth defects and loss)
  • Centering Corporation (full general grief information and resources)
  • Empathetic Friends (resources for families subsequently the death of a child)
  • First Candle (resources for families after the death of a child by SIDS or preventable stillbirth)
  • Journey Programme of Seattle Children'due south Hospital (resources for families later the decease of a child)
  • Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep (remembrance photography)
  • Perinatal Hospice & Palliative Care (resources for parents who find out during pregnancy that their babe has a life-limiting condition
  • Share Pregnancy & Infant Loss Support (resource for families with pregnancy or babe loss)
  • Star Legacy Foundation (resources for families who have had a stillbirth)

Last reviewed: October, 2017