The Stillbirth Foundation Australia funds research into stillbirth and increases public awareness.
Stillbirth is when a baby dies whilst inside its mother and can occur from 20 weeks any time until immediately before birth. The death of these babies is unexpected and often occurs at the end of a healthy uneventful pregnancy.
In Australia, six babies are stillborn every day, a number that has not reduced over the last decade. Sadly, parents are often left without answers because in more than 30% of cases no cause of death is found. In fact, unexplained stillbirth is now 10 times more common than SIDS.
My story is similar to many others. My second child was stillborn at 36 weeks gestation for no known reason; she remains an “unexplained stillbirth at term”. My pregnancy was uneventful and relatively easy – I’d done it once before, so why should this one be any different? Once I was past that early 12 week phase, I assumed that everything would be fine. At that time, I was blissfully unaware that babies die in utero.
How did I know that my baby had died? One day, she had simply stopped moving. I rang my Obstetrician who asked me to go to the Hospital for a CTG, a machine that checks the baby’s heartbeat. The furthest thought from my mind was that my baby could have died, I was even embarrassed about going to the Hospital at 36 weeks and possibly wasting their time. I went with my then-toddler, and didn’t even tell my husband! I mean, babies slow down towards the end of pregnancy as there is limited room – I’ve now learnt that that’s an old wives’ tale.
“I’m sorry but your baby has died” are the hardest words for any woman to have to hear. It’s odd, as at the time it was difficult to comprehend what the words meant, but today (over seven years on), I can still clearly see the midwife standing in the delivery suite reciting those very words. There had to be some mistake! Babies don’t die, unless there is something wrong and my pregnancy had been perfectly normal.
Although I knew I had done nothing wrong, I felt an overwhelming sense of guilt and responsibility for my daughter’s death. On top of those feelings the thought of having to give birth to a child that was dead, was very frightening.
After a long induction, on 31st July 2002, my beautiful and perfect little girl was born in silence. There was no fear then, simply a desperate longing to hold her, and love her and cherish her. I counted all her fingers and toes, adored her little rosebud lips and tiny eyelashes, and kept watching her chest hoping it would start to rise and fall with breath. My daughter was a big healthy perfect baby and in the words of my obstetrician “she is perfectly healthy, just not breathing”.
We called our first daughter, Olivia Kate. Although she was not alive we cared for her just the same as we had for our first child. We took photographs, hand and foot prints, we bathed her, dressed her, wrapped her, cuddled and kissed her, introduced her to her family and a few days later said goodbye to her as we put her gently in a casket. It still causes me much pain that something so perfect could have died.
At the time of stillbirth, one is frightened, feels alone and incredible guilt and responsibility for their baby’s death. At the time of Olivia’s funeral, I spoke these words “The pain that I feel is one that I wish no woman to have to bear”.
The crying and raw pain became less as the weeks and months went past and I tried to solve what had happened. I searched the internet and read many research papers, looking for answers. I was horrified to learn of the high statistics and amazed that little research was being undertaken specifically into stillbirth. Organisations existed that offered support for pregnancy loss, but little, if any, funds were directed specifically for stillbirth research. In memory of Olivia, I promised to establish an organisation to fund and improve research into stillbirth and to hopefully one day prevent other families from having to go through what we had.
The Stillbirth Foundation Australia operates to encourage and fund research into stillbirth and to increase public awareness of this serious health issue. The Stillbirth Foundation Australia’s income comes from fundraising events held by the charity and from donations, most often given in memory of babies. In just four years the Foundation has raised $700,000, however to continue their important work in Australia the charity needs to start raising at least $1 million a year.
We are proud to be able to fund vital and important research projects to enable a greater understanding of stillbirth. Stillbirth Foundation Australia funded research has already yielded valuable information, helping to focus on the underlying reasons for stillbirth and setting clear research priorities for the future.
The latest research funded by the Stillbirth Foundation Australia has revealed that up to 60% of deaths of babies whilst in the womb could be explained if Australian hospitals implemented and followed the PSANZ/ANZSA Perinatal Mortality Audit Guidelines. Reducing unexplained deaths has important implications for bereaved families and their clinicians.
Stillbirth is a multi-factorial problem that requires a broad range of research strategies to fully elucidate this public health problem. The Stillbirth Foundation Australia is excited to be able to fund research projects and is heartened by the findings.
Related article:
Helping a friend who has suffered a loss
For further information, please visit www.stillbirthfoundation.org.au
