Resources

Sands pamphlets

The following brochures are available as PDFs. Please click on the titles below to open.

The Next Few Days.pdf (0.66MB)
Your Baby's Funeral.pdf (0.41MB)
Fathers Grieve Too.pdf (0.48MB)
When a Baby Brother or Sister Dies.pdf (0.34MB)
The Loss of a Grandchild.pdf (0.50MB)
Transporting Your Baby.pdf (1.57MB)

New Zealand definitions/terminology

New Zealand has a legal definition for stillbirth but defers to the World Health Organisation (WHO) definitions of live birth, fetal death and neonatal death.

Disclaimer: While some of the wording on this page may be upsetting for some bereaved parents, it is our intention to provide these definitions in order that they are accessible and because they are not readily available on other sites.

Legal definition of stillbirth
A 'still-born child' means a dead foetus that - (a) weighed 400 grams or more when it issued from its mother; or (b) issued from its mother after the 20th week of pregnancy (from Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration Act 1995)

Gestation of stillborn
The period of gestation ends when a stillborn foetus is delivered and not when the foetus ceases to live in utero. (From NZ Health Information Service website )

Fetal Death
Fetal death is death prior to the complete expulsion or extraction from its mother of a product of conception, irrespective of the duration of the pregnancy; the death is indicated by the fact that after such separation the foetus does not breathe or show any other evidence of life, such as beating of the heart, pulsation of the umbilical cord, or definite movement of voluntary muscles. (WHO 1975 from NZHIS Report on Maternity: Maternal and Newborn Information 2004)

Live Birth
Live birth is the complete expulsion or extraction from its mother of a product of conception, irrespective of the duration of the pregnancy, which, after such separation breathes or shows any other evidence of life, such as beating of the heart, pulsation of the umbilical cord, or definite movement of voluntary muscles, whether or not the umbilical cord has been cut or the placenta is attached. (WHO 1975 from NZHIS Report on Maternity: Maternal and Newborn Information 2004)

Miscarriage
A pregnancy that ends spontaneously before 20 weeks' gestation. A 'hospital miscarriage' occurs when a woman is referred to a hospital during a miscarriage. (NZHIS Report on Maternity: Maternal and Newborn Information 2004)

Neonatal Death
A death occurring up to 27 days after birth (NZHIS Report on Maternity: Maternal and Newborn Information 2004)

Neonatal Death, early
Death of a liveborn infant dying before 168 completed hours (seven days) after birth. (WHO 1975 from NZHIS Report on Maternity: Maternal and Newborn Information 2004)

Neonatal Death, late
Death of a liveborn infant dying after seven days and before 28 completed days after birth. (WHO 1975 from NZHIS Report on Maternity: Maternal and Newborn Information 2004)

Understanding the Basics of Stillbirth

This document was written collaboratively by the members of International Stillbirth Alliance's (ISA) Parents Advisory Committee (PAC). It provides an overview of different aspects of the experience of a stillbirth and a newborn death.

www.stillbirthalliance.org/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=51