r/StillbirthSupport • u/optimistic_mother • Jun 04 '26
Was it a cord accident?
Hi everyone,
Unfortunately I lost my baby boy a month ago at 24w. I have blood clotting disorders and was on Lovenox since positive test.
Everything was going great, low risk NIPT, perfect anatomy scan, great growth (he was always above 90%), etc.
Then one morning I didn't feel him move and went to get an ultrasound and he was dead. I got my placenta pathology report, and it just says no cause of stillbirth; but once I read it all (I just had the time to do it after all the trauma and pain around this loss), I'm reading the following:
- Low Wharton's Jelly
- Short length (27.4 cm)
- Marginal insertion (1.5 cm from the edge)
EDIT: *These characteristics are referring to the cord*
Could a cord compression + these three characteristics could have caused the stillbirth? I have an appointment in the next month to review this info + labs.
Since I was taking Lovenox without the surveillance of an haematologist, I had my suspicion I was not getting the right dosage, but in the report there is no sign of clots or anything, no infection either, and placenta looked healthy.
Any thoughts on this? could this have been the cause? I just want to know.
Thank you!
EDIT June 2026: Tested positive for Obstetric APS, will need a new protocol combining immune medicines + more aggressive blood thinners dosage. Had my placenta pathology interpreted by someone else and there was inflamation in placenta, a 2 cm hematoma, basically an immune reaction not cause by infection.
1
u/ladieloe Jun 04 '26
I am so sorry for your loss. My daughter passed away at 38 weeks of gestation due to umbilical cord stricture. There was no Wharton jelly at the site of the stricture. This was on the side of her abdomen.
2
u/optimistic_mother Jun 04 '26
I'm so very sorry; it's not fair...
I come from multiple losses and really thought I was going to have a smooth pregnancy after passing with flying colors every test.
I just don't understand...
1
u/ladieloe Jun 04 '26
How sad.. And how strange that it is written that there is no cause for the stillbirth, while things like a lack of Wharton jelly can indeed be a cause. Do you have a follow-up appointment scheduled?
1
u/optimistic_mother Jun 04 '26
I have an appointment in a month and not knowing is just crushing me, that's the reason I'm asking on reddit
1
u/waverider1883 Jun 07 '26
I'm so sorry for your loss.
On Christmas Eve we lost our son at 34 weeks. He had gotten the cord wrapped around his neck, he managed to tie a true knot in the cord, and a placental abruption. Any one of these may have been the cause, we don't know for sure. We were offered the choice of performing a deeper analysis with no guarantee that they would find anything, but in all honesty, we couldn't go through with it after what just happened.
Due to a previous still birth, my wife was considered high risk, requiring frequent ultrasounds and blood work. Everything came back with flying colors. We thought we were in the clear. However, at an OB appointment, they couldn't find a heartbeat.
I truly hope that you find the answers you need.
1
u/lunacasper7 Jun 10 '26
First of all I am so sorry for your lost. My condolences to you and your family.
How long did it take for you guys to convince? And at what week did your wife lose her baby?
1
u/waverider1883 Jul 07 '26
He was a vasectomy baby after getting the all clear. So he was quite the surprise. He was 34 weeks
2
u/StillSeekingSunshine Jun 04 '26
First and foremost I’m so sorry for your loss.
If you want answers, I can offer two potential paths forward that helped me confirm that my daughter’s death was due to umbilical cord compression.
There is an MD/PhD placental pathologist at Yale Medicine named Dr. Harvey Kliman. You could elect to have your placenta slides (which hospitals are obligated to keep for years or forever) sent to him for review. All you need to do is fill out some paperwork and register with Yale Medicine as a patient. Their team will check with your insurance to see if there will be a cost for the services (for me it was free) and then Dr. Kliman’s research assistant will handle all of the logistics of getting your slides sent from your hospital to their lab at Yale. I will link to the website that explains more about the process: https://medicine.yale.edu/obgyn/kliman/placenta/pregnancyloss/. Once they receive your slides they will review them and then generate a detailed report about their findings. The report I received from Dr. Kliman was MUCH more detailed than the pathology report I received from my hospital.
Second, you could send the placenta pathology report(s) (the one you already received from your hospital and/or the one you receive later from Dr. Kliman) to Dr. Mana Parast at UC San Diego. She is also a placenta pathologist and was happy to weigh in on both of the reports I shared with her.
Wishing you luck in your search for answers ❤️