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I had a twin brother who died as a result of complications during delivery and lack of necessary hospital equipment. When someone asks, I never know how to correctly phrase this.

My twin died:

  • at birth (This feels contradictory).
  • while being born (again contradictory, dying while being born).

  • while our mom was giving birth to us.

    ...

Would at birth cover perinatal death, or does it mean while being born?

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    He died within hours of being born. He died shortly after his birth. He was only a newborn when he died. He died in the first week of life... there are many alternatives, it depends on how precise you want to be, see this website: babycentre.co.uk/a1014779/… I agree though that the term stillborn implies something quite different.
    – Mari-Lou A
    Commented Apr 15, 2017 at 15:18
  • @Mari-LouA I think your suggested sentences are pretty close. Thanks.
    – user223816
    Commented Apr 15, 2017 at 15:26
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    I think died at birth is accurate and is different than stillborn.
    – Jim
    Commented Apr 15, 2017 at 15:28
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    "My twin died at birth" is perfectly acceptable. You have no obligation to further explain.
    – Mark Hubbard
    Commented Apr 15, 2017 at 15:42
  • I think it depends on your definition of death. For instance in most cases time of death is only officially determined by a medical professional, however it is possible someone has died in prior to that determination.
    – Jay Holister
    Commented Apr 15, 2017 at 17:37

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Under the circumstances, "died shortly after birth" would probably keep it brief and accurate.

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The medical term is perinatal.

My brother suffered a perinatal death.

:occurring in, concerned with, or being in the period of the time around birth. [Webster's]

This is different from stillborn, generally meaning the fetus never took a breath of air. These children have usually died a few days before delivery and the uterus expels them whether full term or not.

A nuchal cord for instance, when the umbilical cord wraps around the fetal neck enough to strangulate, can occasionally result in death in which it would be ambiguous of how otherwise to categorize besides perinatal.

There are also many conditions in which the child is born in a condition not compatible with life such as encephaloceles. However, these children can live for several days, months, or even years, as in the case of Tay-Sachs Disease. It is unclear where perinatal ends and infancy begins.

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