RATHER than increasing the risk of an unexplained stillbirth, urinary tract infections in pregnant women actually reduce it. This surprising discovery might even lead to ways of preventing some inexplicable stillbirths.
Stillbirths due to unknown causes claim more babies than cot deaths (sudden infant death syndrome), yet very little is known about them. Obesity, smoking, poor education and older age in the mother are known risk factors. So when Frederik Frøen and his colleagues at the University of Oslo in Norway looked at 241 stillbirths and 582 controls, they expected women in poor health or with complications during pregnancy would…
