Abstract Introduction: India is the major contributor to the total number of stillbirths worldwide. However, there is paucity of data due to insufficient reporting, lack of societal acceptance for fetal autopsies, less awareness and financial and resource constraints for detailed investigations. Fetal autopsy is an important tool to identify the cause of unexplained stillbirth which would enable timely intervention in the preconceptional and antenatal period. Methods: A retrospective review of 60 stillbirths delivered between 2023 and 2025 at a single tertiary care centre was performed. Demographic and clinical characteristics of the cases were analysed. For 14 cases(23.3%) fetal autopsies were performed after informed consent of parents. The International Classification of Diseases 11 (ICD-11) definition of stillbirth was used. The cause of intrauterine fetal death was explored by correlating the autopsy reports clinically and with placental histopathological examination. Results: Eight (57.1%) out of 14 fetal autopsies reported congenital structural anomalies. Detection of congenital anomaly by fetal autopsy contributed to determination of cause when no other complications of pregnancy or maternal comorbidities could explain the same. Fetuses with congenital anomalies were found to be less commonly associated with maternal complications of pregnancy, more commonly associated with previous history of stillbirth and had significantly lower weight. No significant association was found between occurrence of congenital anomalies and booking status, number of visits, maternal age, maternal blood ABO/Rh typing, maternal comorbidities, fetal gender, single vs multiple gestation and gestational age. Conclusion: Stillbirth is an important cause for perinatal mortality. The problem can be addressed by counseling parents for fetal investigations including autopsy, identifying causes, and efficient documentation and work up. This dataset is an important contribution to the scientific pool as it provides insight into Indian data on stillbirth.
Chandra et al. (Sun,) studied this question.