Association Between Risk Factors and Still Birth in Pregnancy in Tertiary Care Center

Introduction: Stillbirth is a sensitive indicator of maternal care during the antepartum and intrapartum period. Globally around 2.6 million stillbirths occurred in 2019 out of which India accounting for 22%. Aims and Objectives: 1.To correlate the association between stillbirth in pregnancy and risk factor in tertiary care center.2.To assess the modifiable risk factors and propose preventable strategies. Methods: A Hospital based Retrospective clinical study carried out in Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology of Sapthagiri Institute of Medical Sciences and Research Centre, Bengaluru for three years from October 2018-October 2021. Results: Young primigravida’s were more at risk of having a stillbirth. Obesity and smoking did not play a major in this study. Majority of the cases were pre-term 78.18%. Hypertensive disorder in pregnancy 36.36% was the leading cause of fetal death. Antepartum hemorrhageand anemia accounted for 14.54%, Rh negative pregnancy and endocrine dysfunction accounted for 9% of still birth. None of the cases had any screening strategies done, example: pre-eclampsia, diabetes, or thyroid studies. Conclusion: Highest prevalent risk factors associated with stillbirths are hypertension and prematurity. There is a need to provide and assure access to specialized quality antenatal care to pregnant women to control and modify where feasible the risk factors associated with stillbirths. Implementation of available screening strategies especially for hypertensive disorder in pregnancy and gestational diabetes mellitus will help in modifying fetal and neonatal outcomes