The importance of placental evaluation following perinatal death

Although uncommon, abnormalities of the placenta are important to recognise owing to the potential for both maternal and fetal morbidity and mortality. The placenta is often overlooked in the routine evaluation of a normal gestation, receiving attention only when an abnormality is detected. During the formal scan to confirm a fetal death, the information gathering process to elucidate a possible cause of death begins, yet, even in this instance, the placenta is seldom examined. We aim to draw attention to the importance of placental assessment by presenting a case of a stillbirth where the answer to the cause of death lay in the placenta.