[Stillbirth--an analysis of 354 cases 1966-88]

A study was conducted on the collection of stillbirths occurring during the last 23 years in the Gynaecological Hospital in Bamberg. The data were taken from the birth reports and the recorded course of each pregnancy. The results of the first 22 years were divided into 2 groups, the first 11 years and the subsequent 11 years, to enable better judgement of trend changes. A total number of 354 children died antepartum or subpartum, the larger group (249) being that in the first 11 years of the observation period. The number of stillborn babies decreased from 40 per year (15%) to 3 per year (1.1%) in the first period. In the collective group the regular participation in prenatal visits increased from 24% to 56%. The percentage of single mothers (9%) remained constant. The number of foreign mothers, who are non-German citizens rose from 2% to 8%. As expected, the rate of stillbirths for twins was almost 4 times higher (5.3%) than for the single pregnancies. The percentage of multiparous women decreased from 66% to 48%. The number of stillbirths, preceded by a miscarriage and abortion in the patient's clinical history, remained constant at 17%. The age distribution of the mothers was almost the same for both observation periods. The usual age of the pregnancy at the time of the stillbirth shifted from the 39th-42nd week to the 35th-38th week. The main complication for the entire group was pre-eclampsia, at the rate of 30%. Amnion infection syndrome (4%) and diabetes mellitus (2%) were rare. The primary cause of foetal death was related to placental dysfunction (40%).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)