Fetal mortalities decline but racial disparities remain

AORN Journal, July, 2007

The rate of fetal deaths (ie, stillbirths) occurring at 20 weeks of gestation or more decreased substantially between 1990 and 2003, according to a February 21, 2007, news release from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The fetal mortality rate (ie, number of fetal deaths per 1,000 live births and fetal deaths) showed a steady decline of an average of 1.4% per year from 1990 to 2003, particularly among pregnancies at 28 weeks of gestation and longer.

Although the rates declined across all racial and ethnic groups, the rate for non-Hispanic black women (ie, 11.56 per 1,000) was more than double that of non-Hispanic white women (ie, 4.94 per 1,000). Researchers also found that the fetal mortality rate for

* American Indian women (ie, 6.09 per 1,000) was 24% higher than that for non-Hispanic white women;

* Hispanic women (ie, 5.46 per 1,000) was slightly higher than that for non-Hispanic white women; and

* Asian or Pacific Islander women (ie, 4.98 per 1,000) was comparable to that for non-Hispanic white women.

Relatively little is known about the causes of fetal mortality. Researchers have identified risk factors for a fetal death, however, including placental and cord problems and intrauterine growth retardation as welt as the mother

* smoking during pregnancy,

* being obese,

* having severe or uncontrolled high brood pressure,

* having diabetes,

* having infections, and

* having had a previous perinatal death.

New Report Shows Decline in Stillbirths; Racial Disparities Persist [news release]. Atlanta, Ga: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; February 21, 2007. Available at: http://www.cdc.gov/od/oc/media/pressrel/2007/r070221 .htm. Accessed March 1, 2007.