Stillbirths’ microbiology: a favorable time for post-mortem microbiology

Abstract

Post-Mortem Microbiology (PMM) aims to detect infections that could be a cause of stillbirth. A newborn having no sign of life after delivery is defined as stillbirth. Different infections could cause a chain of events leading to stillbirth but the relationships between maternal infection and stillbirth are often not very clear; as a matter of fact, the positive serologic tests do not prove causality. Screening, prevention, and treatment of maternal infections are important to reduce the stillbirth risk. The identification of an infectious agent that causes stillbirth through PMM is a shared aim by microbiologists, pathologists and surgeons, and it is also the common goal in clinical and forensic autopsies. The aim of this paper is a review the major infections that lead to stillbirths.

Keywords

• Post-mortem microbiology;
• stillbirths
• infections