Fetal mortality is a major, but often overlooked, public health problem. Fetal mortality refers to spontaneous intrauterine death at any time during pregnancy. Fetal deaths later in pregnancy are sometimes referred to as stillbirths (at 20 weeks of gestation or more, or 28 weeks or more, for example) (1,2). Much of the public concern regarding reproductive loss has concentrated on infant mortality, as less is known about fetal mortality. However, the impact of fetal mortality on U.S. families is considerable.
This report examines fetal death data from the National Vital Statistics System (NVSS) (1,3). Vital statistics fetal death data are generally presented for fetal deaths of 20 weeks of gestation or more. Other data sources provide estimates of fetal deaths for all periods of gestation. For example, the National Survey of Family Growth estimates about 1 million fetal losses per year in the United States, with the vast majority of these occurring before 20 weeks of gestation (4).
