Stillbirths Devastate Cleburne Texas

The following e-mails were received October 21 & 22^nd by The National Stillbirth Society from a resident of Cleburne, Texas, a town of 26,604 located 30 miles south of Ft. Worth. The writer lost a son September 2, 2002 at the gestational age of 30 weeks. While her particular experience is unremarkable, circumstances surrounding it are staggering to the imagination. According to the sender, 11 Cleburne women lost a baby to stillbirth over a 3-week period in the fall of 2002. If the facts are confirmed, Cleburne, TX may have just suffered the greatest concentration of stillbirths in the annals of U S history, equal to 80 times the expected annual stillbirth rate for a community its size. The question is why!

To: stillnomore@cox.net
Sent: Monday, October 21, 2002 10:17 PM
Subject: Confusing Stillbirth 9-2-02

I lost my son Chase Matthew on Sept. 2, 2002. I was 30 weeks along. I stopped feeling him move and went in and had a sonogram where no heartbeat was discovered. They cannot find any reason why. But here is the interesting part. The hospital where I delivered normally has 1-2 stills a year. In a three-week time period they had 11. Then they stopped. My doctor said there is no way this is a coincidence. Something was going on in our area. I just want to know if you have any suggestions on how to get some answers. My Dr. said the state was looking into it. But I don't want anything to get left out. I want answers. If you have any advice please let me know. And yes Chase Matthew was a gift of God. Even though we only had him a short while. Thank you so much.

- Mandi Wilson

It happened in Cleburne Texas. At Wall Regional Harris Methodist Hospital. My Dr really went out on a limb to tell me. He didn't have to say anything. I do not want him to get into any trouble, but I do want answers. (Note: NSS has been subsequently informed that 2 of the 11 were delivered at a Fort Worth hospital to Cleburne women.)

I was his only patient to lose one and my loss was the first. Then in the next three weeks there were 11. One Dr had five losses. The others were like one Dr. had one, one had two, etc. My Dr. said that he would let me know if there was anything that could have been prevented. And that the state was checking with other hospitals in the area to see if they had a significant increase in that time period.

I have heard nothing about it in the newspapers or anything. And I really would like some answers. We did not have an autopsy done but they did test the cord and placenta. There were a few twists in the cord but no knots. There was also no sign of infection. He acted like when they realized there was something going on that they started testing further. But I'm not real sure on that.

I really appreciate him letting me know all this because I don't want something to get covered up. I want to know why we have heard nothing about this and what they think might have been going on. Whether it was food, water, air, a chemical spill, etc.. We have no idea at this point. But like my Dr. said it was no coincidence. Something was going on.

All I know is I just want answers. I know that you can understand that. In most stills there are no answers but in this one I think that there could be. If you need to get a hold of me on the phone my number is 000-000-0000. (Removed by NSS for privacy but will be made available to appropriate parties.)

The foregoing e-mails were received by the National Stillbirth Society and are being circulated among concerned medical and political officials to highlight the need for a possible investigation into the causes of this statistically improbable occurrence.

STILLBIRTHS DEVASTATE RURAL TEXAS TOWN