Utility of ICD-PM Classification in Assigning Cause of Death in Stillbirths in a Tertiary Care Hospital in North India

Background and objectives: There are several classification systems in place to assign cause of death in stillbirths, but there is a lack of uniformity in these systems in providing complete information regarding the cause of stillbirths.Our objectives were: (1) To identify the causes of stillbirth by applying ICD-PM classification.(2) To study the risk factors compared to control cases responsible for stillbirth from the available data.Materials and methods: This was a prospective study conducted in a Tertiary Care Hospital from January 2021 to November 2021 in North India.There were 20,732 total deliveries during this period.A total of 1,495 stillbirths delivered in this period.Women who came with intrauterine fetal demise after 20 weeks of gestation and those who delivered a stillborn baby were included in the study.Women having a live birth served as controls.Antenatal and labor room records, as well as history given by the patient with stillbirths were recorded and critically analyzed.The data were recorded on the stillbirth review form approved by the World Health Organization (WHO) and were analyzed according to the ICD-PM classification.Results: The most common maternal cause of all stillbirths according to the ICD-PM classification in our study was M4 (33%).The most common fetal cause of antepartum stillbirths was A3 (31.93%).The most common fetal condition responsible for intrapartum stillbirths was I3 (55%).