Trends in Stillbirths and Stillbirth Phenotypes in the United States: An Analysis of 131.5 Million Births

Abstract

We examined the trends in stillbirth across gestational age in the United States (US).We conducted a trend analysis using the U.S. Natality and Fetal Death datasets covering 1982 and 2017. We compared the incidence and rates of stillbirth for term, all preterm, moderate-to-late preterm, very preterm, and extreme preterm phenotypes. The incidence of stillbirth decreased for the entire birth cohort over the 36-year period. The rates of overall, term, all preterm, very preterm and moderate-to-late preterm stillbirth decreased from 1982 to 2017; however, the rates for extreme preterm stillbirth increased by about 7.6% over the same study period. Key words: • Trends in stillbirth • Stillbirth phenotypes • Stillbirth in US