LOS
ANGELES, Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- Pregnant women aged 40 and above are at greater
risk of intrauterine fetal demise or stillbirth, a new study said on Saturday.
Results of the study were presented on Friday by
researchers of Yale School of Medicine at the on-going Maternal-Fetal Medicine
Conference in San Francisco.
The study also found that fetal testing at 38 weeks
of gestation has the greatest impact at reducing stillbirth rates in older
women.
Pregnant patients of advanced maternal age (AMA) are
at an increased risk for a multitude of pregnancy complications, including
gestational diabetes mellitus, preeclampsia, placenta previa and intrauterine
growth restriction, all of which have been associated with a higher rate of
stillbirth, according to the study.
The researchers conducted a cross-sectional study on
women aged between 15 to 44 and were at least 37 weeks pregnant.
The study also used the U.S. Central Digital Computer
(CDC) perinatal mortality data base to determine if AMA was an independent risk
factor for stillbirth.
The database is made up of 11,061,599 singleton
deliveries between 1995 and 1997.
"Our results support routine antenatal testing in
those women who are over age 40, beginning at 38 weeks gestation," said study
author Mert Ozan Bahtiyar, professor in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology
& Reproductive Sciences at Yale School of Medicine.
"This will help identify women who are most at risk
for stillbirth," he said.
