Avoidable grief

• Autores: Jop de Vrieze
• Localización: New scientist, ISSN 0262-4079, Nº. 3069, 2016, pág. 18
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • Vrieze asserts that in the Netherlands, as in the UK and other high-income nations, stillbirth tends to be regarded as "nature's way" and unavoidable. About 1 in 200 babies are stillborn in most European countries--11 per day in the UK alone. These children were thought to be too weak to survive, and the experience considered negligible compared with the death of a child after birth. Yet it looks as if up to 50 per cent of these tragedies could be preventable. It is true that some babies die in the womb as a result of severe congenital problems. But most do not. In those cases, a dysfunctional placenta is to blame. As a result, growth and development stagnate, which can cause premature birth or a fatal combination of starvation and lack of oxygen. So-called "fetal growth restriction" cannot be treated, but babies can be saved by inducing birth, or carrying out a caesarean section. But only if their condition is diagnosed in time