Simple Blood Test Could Prevent Stillbirth, Researchers Say

A simple blood test can prevent stillbirths. Australian researchers have developed the blood test that will measure the levels of RNA, a genetic material found in placenta, to understand the oxygen levels in the fetuses.

Over a million stillbirths are reported globally and the leading cause remains lack of proper oxygen supply to the baby.

Researchers at Mercy Health in Melbourne tested 100 women. They found that remains of RNA seep out of the placenta and enter the expecting mother's blood. According to the researchers, the blood test developed by them could help detect the problem.

Clare Whitehead, co-author of the study, said this RNA measurements could show the possible amount of lack of oxygen

The team has begun clinical trials that involve 180 pregnancies at seven hospitals. ''About one in 135 women is affected by having a stillbirth and of the stillbirths that happen, over 50 per cent of them are due to growth restriction that we haven't picked up," she said. ''We'll get those results over the next few years, but the technology already exists, so we could have a test within five years.'

Stephen Tong, chief of Mercy Health's Translational Obstetrics Group, said that doctors have been using ultrasounds to check the oxygen supply babies get in the womb. However, according to him it does not help in deciding the delivery time of babies at death risk. ''Sometimes we time it too late and there is a stillbirth, or the best guess is to deliver and we deliver early and the baby has suffered from the potential risk of prematurity,'' he explained.

The finding is published in the journal 'BMC Medicine.'