Stillbirth Awareness and Research Act

I am posting the following for a dear high school friend. Please read and take action!


Stillbirth Awareness & Research Act

I support H.R. 5979 Stillbirth Awareness and Research Act and you should too! Take a few extra minutes to read this post and then get in gear and take action.October 15th is National Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day in the United States. Each year that I have had my blog, I have recognized this special day, and for years prior to the blogs inception. More than 25,000 children are stillborn in the United States every year leaving mothers, entire families and communities devastated. Estimates of the rate of occurrence of stillbirth make it at least as common as autism.

Stillbirth is not an intractable problem. Greater research would likely significantly reduce its incidence, but good research requires good data.H.R. 5979: Stillbirth Awareness and Research Act is under consideration by Congress. This proposed bill would standardize stillbirth investigation and diagnosis, thus providing more data for the needed research. Better research means fewer children born still. On October 15th, remember the thousands of unfinished children lost and the families who remain to grieve them. Honor them by taking action. Let's help pass H.R. 5979.

Action Steps:

Step 1. Use Your Blog to Enlist Others-Copy the contents of this entire post and publish it on your blog immediately. GOAL: Enlist 10 of your readers to spread the word

Step 2. Use Your E-mail to Enlist Others-E-mail 5 bloggers and ask them (nicely and in an unspammy way) to publish these action steps on their blog. Consider contacting celebrity bloggers, political bloggers, medical bloggers, or bloggers who are not part of your reading community. GOAL: Enlist 3 bloggers outside of your normal blog sphere to spread the word in other online communities.

Step 3. Help Pass the Stillbirth Awareness and Research Act-By October 15th, publish a post on your blog supporting H.R. 5979 Stillbirth Awareness and Research Act. For maximum impact, title your post: "Stillbirth Awareness and Research Act."

There is another cause that goes along with this that is also near and dear to my heart. My kids were born at 28 weeks (12 weeks early) due to the stillbirth of their brother, Calvin. Luckily, they had the chance at life, and survived. There are many families out there that are not so lucky. There isn't much worse in life than leaving the hospital without your child. Premature birth, especially with 'multiples' is too common. Despite bedrest and doctors best practice, there are too many babies born early who do not make it.More infants in the US die today because of prematurity, more than any other cause. The March of Dimes is urging the federal government to support prematurity related research. You can click HERE to support this research incentive. We hope you will take an extra few minutes to take a look - and better yet, put this on your blog or website and urge everyone you know to do the same.I thank you, and so does my family! I will remind you again on October 15th.