Research on the Scope and Causes of Stillbirth in the US

Emory University, Atlanta GA

Investigators

Linked publications & trials

Abstract

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This proposal demonstrates the ability and commitment of the Emory University Schools of Medicine and Public Health and The Metropolitan Atlanta Stillbirth Study Coalition (MASSC), a consortium of 6 hospitals, to participate in the NICHD initiative to study the scope and causes of stillbirth in the United States. The MASSC represents the academic, private and public sectors, with almost 40,000 deliveries/year at these hospitals. Over 90% of women who live in a Catchment Area of 100 Census Tracts in DeKalb, Fulton and Gwinnett Counties deliver in one of these hospitals (over 9000 deliveries/year). Population in the Catchment Area is racially, ethnically, and economically diverse. From 1995-99, 280 women in the Catchment Area delivered a stillbirth of > 20 weeks' gestation in MASSC hospitals (7.7 stillbirths per 1,000 deliveries > 20 wks). Data on prenatal care, maternal race, gestational age, cause of death are presented and compared to the entire 3-County area, the 5-County area of the Metropolitan Atlanta Birth Defects Monitoring Program, and the State of Georgia. A plan to enhance the existing perinatal data system is presented. The multidisciplinary team of investigators includes scientists from the Emory Schools of Medicine and Public Health, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Georgia Department of Human Resources. They bring a breadth of expertise to this study that includes pediatrics/neonatology, obstetrics/perinatology, epidemiology/public health, pediatric/perinatal pathology, placental function, infectious diseases, hematology, genetics, birth defects, and neurology/neuropathology. The group has a long history of successful funded research, publications in relevant areas, and active involvement with other multicenter studies and multicenter Networks. Dr. B. Stoll (PI) is an internationally recognized clinical and epidemiologic investigator. She is the PI at Emory for the NICHD Neonatal Research Network and co-chair of an Institute of Medicine committee, "Improving Birth Outcomes in Developing Countries." Dr Carol Hogue (co-PI) is an internationally recognized reproductive health epidemiologist and PI of multicenter collaborative studies. A concept proposal, "The association of stillbirths with maternal and fetal thrombophilia genotypes," is presented. The investigators are committed to working collaboratively with other clinical centers and scientific groups to achieve the goals of the NICHD Stillbirth Network.