or, Neonatal Death prior to Viability
When a baby dies in the first 28 days of life, this is called “neonatal death”.
Because by most calculations a baby is considered viable in or after the 24th week of pregnancy, technically a stillborn baby who is born live, even for an extremely short time past delivery, may also be considered under the “neonatal death” category.
There is no such category for the unique situation in which a baby born via miscarriage either is or appears to be alive for seconds or even minutes after the birth.
“I had a miscarriage, but, my baby was also born alive.”
Because there is no such technical category, but because parents who experience this unique and extremely special situation wish to have their baby’s experiences validated, stillbirthday has identified this situation as “live miscarriage”.
A live miscarriage may be most likely to occur the closer the baby is to reaching viability status (perhaps 16 weeks and older).
In a live miscarriage, immediately after the delivery, the baby may curl his or her fingers around the parents’ finger, may either appear to take a breath (as air is pushed into his or her body, particularly when moved), or he or she may indeed take an actual breath.
Because the skin of the baby in first or early second trimester is so young, you may be able to see your baby’s heart beating.
This video is given to the world as a gift by mother, Veronika, doula, student midwife, professional photographer, member of Fox Valley Birth & Baby (serving families throughout Fox Valley Wisconsin), a woman enduring a struggle with fertility (Hashimoto’s Disease), but above all these, mother of three beautiful children, including “this little blueberry sized peanut.”
She shares:
My hope in sharing is twofold- first, I want to help encourage more people to talk about their losses and I hope that being able to view these will help people heal from their miscarriages like it has helped me. Second, I would love for this post to reach other women that this might have happened to so I can talk to you. If anyone has experienced a loss and been able to see the heartbeat like this, please [connect with me].
Witnessing such movements or signs of life can either be alarming to parents, or, for others, can be extremely validating and profoundly significant.
For this reason, stillbirthday wishes to validate this rare but important experience by naming it “live miscarriage”.
You won’t know if your baby will display moments of signs of life, until after your experience is over and your baby is born. Please do not allow this to change the course of your birth plans, if your birth plans are medically necessary. Here are stories shared by mothers who’ve experienced a live miscarriage.
The following information continues to give you support through the miscarriage process:
If your baby is younger than about 12 weeks gestation, you may be given three options for delivery:
If your baby is older than about 12 weeks gestation (about the beginning of the second trimester), you may be given these options for delivery:
- artificial induction (medication)
- D&C
- D&E
- if you’ve been given a different option, please click on “Birth Methods” and find the option that has been recommended for you
You are invited to share your story here as well: please remember that sharing your story at stillbirthday is a way to express your feelings and share your experiences with other mothers – it is not to diagnose, treat or answer any medical questions.
You might visit our farewell celebrations for ideas to celebrate your baby.
