The birth of a dead baby. A late term miscarriage. The difference between stillbirth and miscarriage is fairly arbitrary and based on how far along in pregnancy it occurs. (Depends by country and state - I think it's usually at about 7 months.) It generally carries a significant legal difference however - while miscarriages needn't be reported (except of course for health reasons to your doctor), a stillbirth must be reported and a cause of death identified before a doctor can issue a certificate of stillbirth (like a death certificate), which in turn is needed for a burial (or cremation or whatever) to legally occur. Stillbirths can be caused simply by stress to the womb, or a host of other factors, among them infections and genetic disorders.

Still"birth` (?), n.

The birth of a dead fetus.

 

© Webster 1913.

Log in or register to write something here or to contact authors.