Prenatal risk factors in late fetal death, Civil Hospital of Guadalajara, Mexico [Factores de riesgo prenatales en la muerte fetal tard�a, hospital civil de Guadalajara, M�xico]

Objective: To identify sociodemographic, obstetric and perinatal factors most frequently associated with fetal death in pregnancies over 27 weeks.Methods: From January 2004 to June 2009 at the Civil Hospital of Guadalajara, we performed a case-control study of 528 stillbirths over 27 weeks gestation and 528 living infants whose birth occurred immediately afterwards.We compared the frequency of maternal and fetal variables that previously have been reported associated with fetal death by means of Chi2 and Fisher exact test, we estimated the strength of association between these variables and fetal death with odds ratios with a confidence level of 95%.Results: The studied risk factors associated with fetal death was: maternal age older than 35 years, low schooling, multiparity, history of abortion and stillbirth, poor prenatal care, pregnancy complications, abnormal amniotic fluid, circular double umbilical cord around the neck of product and major congenital malformations of the newborn.Single marital status, primiparity, smoking, male fetus, simple circular neck and fetal macrosomia, was not associated with fetal death.Conclusions: Risk factors associated with fetal death, like poor prenatal care emphasizes that, if improved, could decrease the strength of association of some of the other variables associated with fetal death