Newswise — Stillbirth occurs an estimated 30,000 times a year in the United States, yet it remains one of the least understood areas of pregnancy loss, according to University of Utah obstetrician and gynecologist Robert M. Silver, M.D.
Silver, associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the U School of Medicine, hopes knowledge gained through a five-year nationwide study will help lower the number of stillbirths. The U of U is one of five major medical centers taking part in the study, funded by the National Institutes of Health, and Silver is the principal investigator in Utah.
Stillbirth, which happens an estimated 240 times a year in Utah, is understudied primarily because people find it emotionally difficult to address and because of the costs, according to Silver.
"Our goal is to do a better job of studying the scope and cause of stillbirth, so we can do a better job of preventing it," he said.
The study is open to women who live in Salt Lake County and experience in utero death of a fetus after 20 weeks. Women who experience stillbirth once enrollment begins within the next few months are eligible to take part. Silver plans to enroll 100 women a year for five years to evaluate both known and unknown causes of stillbirth.
Participants will undergo a medical history, blood draw from the mother, and have the opportunity for state-of-the-art testing of their stillborn infants. There is no cost to join the study.
U of U co-investigators in the study include Michael W. Varner, M.D., professor of obstetrics and gynecology, and John M. Opitz, M.D., professor of pediatrics. Members of the medical school's obstetrics and gynecology, pathology and radiology departments, the Utah Department of Health, and Angel Watch, a grief support group, also will participate.
Salt Lake County women interested in joining the study can call Silver at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 585-5156.
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