It's the placenta stupid

many many years ago, when a lot of us GP's got out of Obstetrics because of the sudden huge increase in our malpractice insurance due to lawsuits over brain damaged babies, we were told that we should have all placentas examined for inflammatory and other changes, to prove the brain damage occured before birth (i.e. toxins, viruses, etc).

Science Daily reports on one prenatal cause that has been dicovered that are causes of dead babies or late miscarriages.

The role of the placenta in fetal development is being seriously under-appreciated according to scientists. A team studied 103 mutations linked to prenatal death in mice and showed that almost 70 percent affect the placenta. The team also found that some placenta defects could be directly linked to the cause of death. As such, a significant number of prenatal deaths may be due to the placenta, not just the embryo.