Genetic researchers have made an important step towards resolving the mystery of the causes of intrauterine fetal demise (IUFD), or stillbirth, where a baby dies in the womb after the 14th week of gestation. IUFD is responsible for 60% of perinatal mortality and occurs in about one in every two hundred pregnancies in Europe. Up to half of these stillbirths are unexplained. Now scientists have found that up to 8% of these unexplained deaths may be caused by specific genetic heart conditions.