Stillmothers are brain-dead mothers, sustained in an ICU in Capital Knot City, whose babies have been taken by Bridges to be used as Bridge babies.
Overview[]
Stillmothers are brain-dead mothers who died before they could give birth. Around the seventh month of gestation, the fetus is removed via cesarean section and placed into a portable pod, becoming what is known as a Bridge baby (BB). The mother's body, now referred to as the stillmother, is maintained inside a sarcophagus-like suspension capsule, which preserves her biological connection to the BB.
This connection is essential: it is through the stillmother's womb that a BB maintains a link to the world of the dead. This link enables operatives connected to a BB to sense and detect Beached Things (BTs). To sustain this function, BB pods simulate the environment of the stillmother's womb. If a BB begins to perceive that it is no longer inside a womb, its connection weakens and it may cease to function properly.
To maintain the illusion, BB pods must be periodically recalibrated using an incubator. This device synchronizes the pod's conditions with current data from the stillmother's womb, effectively reinforcing the simulation and prolonging the BB's operational stability.
History[]
Although brain-dead pregnancies have been documented in modern medical history, the first recognized "stillmother" case occurred shortly before the Death Stranding. A surgeon, specializing in cesarean sections, attempted to save a bradycardic fetus in its seventh month of gestation, whose mother had been declared brain-dead. The plan was to remove the fetus and transfer it directly to a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). To do so, the umbilical cord had to be severed.
However, when the surgeon touched the umbilical cord—which unknowingly served as a connection between the unborn child and the world of the dead—he became the first person to lay eyes on a BT. This moment of contact triggered the first modern voidout, marking a pivotal turning point in human history and foreshadowing the catastrophic events of the Death Stranding.
The incident spurred a series of government-led studies known as the BB Experiments, conducted in a secure Manhattan facility. These experiments continued in secret until a catastrophic voidout destroyed the island entirely, resulting in the death of the sitting US President, who was present to observe the experiment.
The second successful extraction of a fetus from a stillmother involved Lisa Bridges and her unborn son. Lisa's husband, Clifford Unger, consented to the use of their child in the early BB experiments, in the hope that it might lead to a cure for his brain-dead wife. However, he was deceived by then-President Bridget Strand, who concealed the true purpose and consequences of the research. Upon discovering the President's intentions, Clifford attempted to escape the facility with his son, but both were fatally shot during the attempt. Clifford succumbed to his wounds, but the child was rescued by Amelie and brough back to life—an extraordinary act that disrupted the boundary between life and death, and ultimately triggered the Death Stranding.
Following these events, all information pertaining to the BB experiments was classified and largely erased from the chiral network. As a result, the public came to believe that BBs were simply tools for detecting BTs rather than sentient beings, and that stillmothers merely served as passive anchors in the process.
Notes[]
- The concept of stillmothers is similar to the real-world practice of maternal somatic support after brain death, in which a brain-dead mother is sustained to allow for the delivery of a viable fetus.
- Like the BB pod, the stillmother's capsule design is inspired by Ancient Egyptian sarcophagi.
- In the Japanese version of the game, the term stillmother is 脳死母. The kanji translates to 'brain-dead mother,' while the furigana simply reads 'stillmother.'