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Table 4 Definitions

From: Causes of death and associated conditions (Codac) – a utilitarian approach to the classification of perinatal deaths

Perinatal period

The perinatal period commences as the birth weight passes 500 grams, or 22 completed weeks of gestation if weight is unknown, or 25 cm crown-heel length if weight and age is unknown, and it ends with the early neonatal period at 7 postnatal days.

Fetal death

Fetal death is death prior to the complete expulsion or extraction from its mother of a fetus, irrespective of the duration of pregnancy; the death is indicated by the fact that after such separation the fetus 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.

Stillbirth

A stillbirth is the birth after fetal death in the perinatal period.

Perinatal death

A perinatal death is death during the perinatal period, and includes stillbirths and early neonatal deaths.

Cause of death

A cause of death in stillbirth is an event, disease or condition of sufficient severity, magnitude and duration for death to be expected in a significant proportion of such cases in a continued pregnancy in the clinical situation it was observed.

COD in the neonate is defined likewise by deleting the insert "... in a continued pregnancy ..."

Associated condition

An associated condition of stillbirth is an event, disease or condition of sufficient severity, magnitude and duration to contribute in explaining the circumstances of death in a significant proportion of such cases in a continued pregnancy in the clinical situation it was observed.

AC in the neonate is defined likewise by deleting the insert "... in a continued pregnancy ..."

Mechanism of death

Mechanisms are biological pathways or chains of events that are initiated by an underlying cause, and consistently and irreversibly result in the same ultimate outcome when triggered by the same event.