My pregnancy with our son Owen was generally normal until, at full term, Owen’s heartbeat couldn’t be found. In spite of my low-risk pregnancy, Owen died before he got the chance to live. It turns out low-risk just meant undiagnosed high-risk.
Looking back, I realized there were red flags and want to share my story as a reminder to others on National Stillbirth Prevention Day.
At my 36 and 37-week appointments, my stomach measured small but was immediately remeasured, and my chart was corrected without additional testing.
At the latter appointment, I noticed Owen moving less; something felt off. I reported the changes, but was reassured everything was OK: “Babies run out of room toward the end of pregnancy.”
I felt dismissed but left thinking I should trust my doctor because medicals professionals are “experts.”
That night, I woke up with my first-ever panic attack. I called the hospital, hoping to be seen immediately, but was asked to come in the next morning. Once there, I was told to reduce my stress.
Less than a week later, still feeling him move less, we found out Owen had died.
Owen’s placenta appeared normal—except for one key finding. His placenta measured at the 0.005 percentile for his gestational age, which was confirmed by a doctor.
I learned there is a gap between research on placental health and what medical teams practice. Multiple doctors told me that there’s no way to measure the size of the baby’s placenta during pregnancy. I believed that until I learned about estimated placental volume — a simple 30-second ultrasound measurement requiring no additional equipment — on Instagram.
It breaks my heart knowing that Owen’s death was preventable. The warning signs were there, but the standard of care does not currently utilize tests that could have changed this outcome. This gap in placental health monitoring does not need to continue.
Just weeks before his death, Owen was healthy. Crucial data on my placenta’s health could’ve been a game changer. I also wished I had been using the “Count the Kicks” app to learn my baby’s normal patterns and felt more empowered to get checked when his movements changed.
Now, instead of raising Owen, I share his story to spare others this heartbreak. Sadly, stillbirth can happen in low-risk pregnancies. Families and our children deserve better care. Estimated placental volume measurements should be a part of the standard of care for all pregnancies.
Emma Wambeke, Grayslake
Full-blown fascist
If you don’t want to be thought of or called a fascist, then don’t talk or act like one. It wasn’t a “radical left lunatic” who said that the only way he could lose an election was if he was cheated out of it, and then when he lost the 2020 election, it wasn’t a “radical left lunatic” who pushed his supporters to overthrow that election. Then when some of his supporters assaulted police on Jan. 6, 2021, it wasn’t a “radical left lunatic” who pardoned them four years later. It also wasn’t a “radical left lunatic” who has called his opponents “scum” and “vermin.” How are those statements and actions different than what a fascist would have done, Mr. Trump?
Kevin Coughlin, Evanston