The Utility of Using an Existing Birth Defects Surveillance Program to Enhance Surveillance Data on Stillbirths

摘要

BackgroundFetal death certificates (FDC) are the main source of stillbirth surveillance data in the United States yet previous studies suggest FDC have incomplete ascertainment. In 2005, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) funded two pilot programs to determine the feasibility of expanding existing birth defects surveillance systems employing active case finding methods to conduct surveillance of stillbirths. The objectives of this analysis were to: 1) estimate the completeness of ascertainment of stillbirths identified through one of the pilot programs, the Metropolitan Atlanta Congenital Defects Program (MACDP), and 2) compare the prevalence of stillbirths obtained through active case finding (MACDP) with data available from FDC.