A comparative study of hospital fetal death records and Washington State fetal death certificates

Hospital fetal death records were compared with Washington State fetal death certificates to ascertain the completeness of reporting. Washington State law requires reporting of all fetal deaths of 20 or more weeks gestation. For 16 hospitals reporting 603 fetal deaths, an additional 49 fetal deaths were identified in the mother's charts. The study documents underreporting, especially in the gestational ages closet to the 20-week age limitation where 71 per cent of the 48 unreported cases were 20 to 27 weeks gestation.