Q: I am a 29 years old woman who gave birth to a stillborn baby 15 days back at pregnancy of 30 weeks. According to the doctor he was suffering with severe intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) and oligoamnios. My gynaecologist suggested Bharglobe injection once in every 3rd week and Ecosprin 75 and Folinext D. What precautions should I take while conceiving again? When at the earliest can I start planning a baby?

A:You need to undergo tests to find the cause for stillbirth, IUGR and less liquor. A detailed assessment of your pregnancy history needs to be done before planning the next pregnancy. If all tests are normal, or the cause is found and treated, then you can plan after 6-9 months. In many cases, no cause is found, in which case you need to follow up in the next pregnancy from very early on for regular check and monitoring of the baby growth as well as check if similar problems recur, and then can also be treated. Bed rest helps both IUGR as well as less liquor. If there is associated hypertension, then treatment for that also may be needed, in which case the aspirin will help. Other dietary advice, vitamins, high proteins and calories too may help the IUGR. Regular growth monitoring with ultrasound and CTG for fetal heart rate, too maybe required. Doppler test to study blood flow if the baby is small also has a beneficial effect in detecting fetal compromise and timely delivery to prevent a stillbirth.