FRIDAY, July 23 (HealthDay News) -- A new standardized method may help assign cause of death in stillbirth based on data collected during prenatal care and assessment of fetal death, according to a study published in the August issue of Obstetrics & Gynecology.

Donald J. Dudley, M.D., of the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, and colleagues evaluated 512 stillbirths (enrolled in the Stillbirth Collaborative Research Network) among 500 women for cause of death. The researchers developed a novel method, Initial Causes of Fetal Death, to assign the cause of death of stillbirths using clinical, postmortem, and placental pathology data.

This new method accounted for six broad categories of causes of death, including maternal medical conditions; obstetric complications; maternal or fetal hematologic conditions; fetal genetic, structural, and karyotypic abnormalities; placental infection, fetal infection, or both; and placental pathologic findings. However, neither small for gestational age nor isolated histologic chorioamnionitis was considered a cause of death.

"In conclusion, we have devised a structured system to assign the causes of fetal death based on the best available evidence using a detailed protocol encompassing clinical, pathologic, and pathophysiologic data obtained through a rigorous study process," the authors write.

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