Sept. 19 marked the Fifth Annual National Stillbirth Prevention & Awareness Day, a day to remember the babies and families impacted by stillbirth and to bring greater attention to what we can do to prevent more families from experiencing this devastating loss.

Stillbirth affects more than 20,000 families in the United States every year. Behind that number are parents, grandparents, siblings and communities who carry the loss of a baby with them for a lifetime. National Stillbirth Prevention & Awareness Day creates space to honor those families while also calling attention to the research, education and prevention efforts that can help reduce stillbirth.

This year, advocates, healthcare professionals, parents and community members came together across the country. There was a resolution in Congress, proclamations in states and communities, illuminated landmarks and conversations about the policies and research needed to prevent stillbirth.

Here’s a look back at National Stillbirth Prevention & Awareness Day 2026.

Congress Recognizes National Stillbirth Prevention & Awareness Day

For the fifth consecutive year, members of Congress introduced a bipartisan resolution recognizing Sept. 19 as National Stillbirth Prevention & Awareness Day. A coalition of more than 30 stillbirth prevention advocates representing 14 organizations, including Healthy Birth Day, Inc., traveled to Washington, D.C. and held more than 70 meetings with members of Congress last week. They discussed stillbirth prevention research and legislation, including the SHINE for Autumn Act, which was re-introduced in the 119th Congress last year.

On Sept. 16, U.S. Sens. Jeff Merkley, Cory Booker and Chuck Grassley and U.S. Reps. Ashley Hinson and Alma Adams introduced a bipartisan, bicameral resolution recognizing the day and highlighting the importance of evidence-based stillbirth prevention.

More than 50 organizations endorsed this year’s resolution, including Healthy Birth Day, Inc., the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), the Association of Women’s Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses (AWHONN), March of Dimes, Every Mother Counts, Star Legacy Foundation, Return to Zero: HOPE, Yale University, PUSH for Empowered Pregnancy and many organizations working across maternal health, bereavement support and stillbirth prevention. A full list of supporting organizations can be found by clicking here.

The conversations continued at a congressional roundtable hosted by Congresswoman Alma Adams in the U.S. Capitol. Advocates, medical professionals, policy leaders and parents with lived experience of stillbirth came together to talk about clinical innovations, prevention efforts and the need for continued action.

Communities Across the Country Recognize the Day

National Stillbirth Prevention & Awareness Day reached far beyond Washington, D.C.

Communities across the country issued proclamations recognizing Sept. 19 and calling attention to stillbirth prevention, fetal movement awareness, research and support for families who have experienced loss. Statewide proclamations came from Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Louisiana, Maryland, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina and Wisconsin, while advocates also helped secure local proclamations in 25 communities across the country. 

Every proclamation represents a conversation that might not have happened otherwise. It gives families an opportunity to share their experiences and helps bring stillbirth awareness into local communities.

Additionally, 19 landmarks across the county were illuminated in colorful lights in recognition of National Stillbirth Prevention & Awareness Day, including San Diego City Hall, the Caesars Superdome in Louisiana, and several buildings across the Chicago skyline.

Thank you to everyone who worked to shine a light on stillbirth:

These illuminations served as a reminder that stillbirth affects families everywhere. They also gave families an opportunity to see their babies remembered in their own communities.

In our hometown of Des Moines, Iowa, Healthy Birth Day staff, founders, loss parents, grandparents and stillbirth prevention advocates gathered at the illuminated Iowa Women of Achievement Bridge on Sept. 19. We took time to stand with local families and honor the tens of thousands of families across the nation who have been impacted by stillbirth.

In Omaha, Nebraska Count the Kicks Ambassadors Jessi Michel and Shannon Vaccaro hosted an illumination gathering at the Bob Kerry Pedestrian Bridge. Omaha Mayor John Ewing joined the community and read the Omaha proclamation recognizing Stillbirth Prevention & Awareness Day. We are so grateful to Jessi and Shannon for creating this meaningful space for their community, and to everyone who showed up to remember babies and support stillbirth prevention.

Keep the Momentum Going

National Stillbirth Prevention & Awareness Day also brought renewed attention to federal legislation focused on stillbirth research and data collection.

The Stillbirth Health Improvement and Education for Autumn Act, known as the SHINE for Autumn Act, was introduced in Congress to improve research and data collection on stillbirth. The legislation addresses the need for better information about why stillbirths happen and how prevention efforts can be strengthened. Meetings with members of Congress and their staff in Washington, D.C., helped bring the urgency of stillbirth prevention directly to policymakers and build support for continued action on this issue. 

If you haven’t already, please reach out to members of Congress and ask them to support the SHINE for Autumn Act. This is one important and powerful way to help accelerate progress for National Stillbirth Prevention & Awareness Day.

Learn more about the SHINE for Autumn Act.

As part of this year’s awareness efforts, Healthy Birth Day leaders and stillbirth prevention advocates also shared an open letter addressing America’s stillbirth crisis.

In this letter, Emily Price, CEO of Healthy Birth Day, Inc., Dr. Lee Warner, former Chief of the Women’s Health and Fertility Branch at the CDC, and Sarah Coleman, MPH, Director of Key Relationships for Healthy Birth Day, Inc., discussed the connection between stillbirth and maternal mortality and morbidity, and opportunities to improve outcomes for moms and babies.

We encourage you to read the letter and sign on to help us continue to accelerate progress on stillbirth prevention. Together we can finally end the stillbirth crisis.

Read the open letter and sign on.

National Stillbirth Prevention & Awareness Day may be one day on the calendar, but the work continues all year.

We will keep remembering the babies gone too soon. We will keep supporting families. We will keep sharing evidence-based information about stillbirth prevention and fetal movement. And we will keep working alongside advocates, healthcare professionals, researchers, policymakers and families to push for progress.

Sept. 19 gave us a chance to pause and remember. Now, we keep working to accelerate progress on stillbirth prevention. 

President Biden Signs The Maternal and Child Health Stillbirth Prevention Act of 2024

This marks the first time in history that Congress has passed legislation to specifically address the stillbirth crisis

WASHINGTON, D.C. (July 12, 2024)- President Biden has signed the bipartisan Maternal and Child Health Stillbirth Prevention Act of 2024 (H.R. 4581). This law amends Title V of the Social Security Act to add stillbirth and stillbirth prevention, something that has been left off since it was written nearly 100 years ago. The Maternal and Child Health Stillbirth Prevention Act provides both clarity and a vital call to action to state health departments across the nation that they can and should use a portion of the existing $2.6 billion of Title V Block Grant funding to prevent stillbirth.

The Title V Block Grant is the single largest funding mechanism to address maternal and child health issues in the United States, with services reaching more than 93% of pregnant women in 2022. Currently, fewer than 20 state health departments are using a portion of these existing funds to address stillbirth, leaving expectant parents in most U.S. states and territories more vulnerable to stillbirth. This clarification will support stillbirth prevention activities, thereby helping to save the lives of mothers and babies.

Senators Jeff Merkley (D-Oregon) and Bill Cassidy (R-Louisiana) led The Maternal and Child Health Stillbirth Prevention Act in the Senate, where it passed on unanimous consent June 11. The House approved this bill on May 15 in a vote of 408-3, where it was led by Rep. Ashley Hinson (R-Iowa) and Rep. Alma Adams (D-North Carolina). 

“The successful passage of The Maternal and Child Health Stillbirth Prevention Act means the voices of thousands of grieving mothers, fathers, siblings and grandparents made a powerful difference for future families, and Congress and the President acted. This is a significant step in making stillbirth a maternal health tragedy of the past. Change is coming,” said Emily Price, the CEO of Healthy Birth Day, Inc., the nonprofit organization that championed the bill.

Stillbirth, which is defined as the loss of a pregnancy at 20 weeks or greater gestation, is a public health crisis in the U.S. that happens to more than 21,000 families every year. This means one in every 175 pregnancies in the U.S. ends in stillbirth. Racial disparities persist, and Black women are two times more likely to endure a stillbirth than their White counterparts. Recent reports and data suggest that further reduction in the incidence of stillbirth is possible, highlighting that at least 25% of stillbirths are potentially preventable. That reduction would translate into as many as 6,000 babies’ lives that could be saved every year when stillbirth prevention measures are in place. 

“This is a moonshot moment,” says Janet Petersen, co-founder of Healthy Birth Day, Inc. “Every expectant parent in the U.S. deserves their prenatal care to include evidence-based stillbirth prevention strategies like we have in Iowa. This bill will help make that possible.”

The annual number of stillbirths far exceeds the top five leading causes of deaths among children ages 0-14 years combined, including unintentional injuries, congenital anomalies, preterm birth, homicide, SIDS, and heart disease. Data from UNICEF comparing the United States to other countries shows that our nation can and must do more to prevent stillbirth. The 2023 report shows that in the last two decades, the U.S. stillbirth rate declined by a negligible 0.9% per year (2000-2021), putting our progress at 152nd out of 187 countries globally.

The Maternal and Child Health Stillbirth Prevention Act is endorsed by 50 maternal health organizations, including March of Dimes, ACOG, AMCHP, AWHONN, and SMFM. Full text of the Stillbirth Prevention Act is available at Congress.gov. Visit bit.ly/StopStillbirth to learn more about stillbirth prevention legislation in the 118th Congress. 

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Healthy Birth Day, Inc. Celebrates Passage of The Maternal and Child Health Stillbirth Prevention Act of 2024 at White House Event

On Monday, July 8, 2024, stillbirth prevention advocates and members of the Healthy Birth Day, Inc. team were invited to participate in a panel discussion on the stillbirth crisis hosted by the Biden-Harris Administration at the White House complex. The event coincided with the passage of The Maternal and Child Health Stillbirth Prevention Act. The panel discussion included Healthy Birth Day, Inc. CEO Emily Price, Count the Kicks Ambassador Tomkea Isaac and her husband Brandon, founders of Jace’s Journey, and Healthy Birth Day, Inc. Board Member Rose L. Horton.

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Healthy Birth Day, Inc. Founders Celebrate Progress

The five founders of Healthy Birth Day, Inc. also traveled to Washington, D.C. to attend the White House event in honor of their daughters. From left, Kate Safris, Jan Caruthers, Tiffan Yamen, Iowa Sen. Janet Petersen, and Kerry Biondi-Morlan stand outside the White House on Monday, July 8, 2024.

In the early 2000s these women came together after losing their daughters to stillbirth or infant death. They decided to channel their grief into stillbirth prevention efforts to keep other families from experiencing the tragedy of stillbirth. Their efforts created our nonprofit organization, Healthy Birth Day, Inc., and led to the launch of the Count the Kicks stillbirth prevention program in 2008. 

About Healthy Birth Day, Inc.

Healthy Birth Day, Inc. is the creator of the Count the Kicks stillbirth prevention program, which is credited with lowering the stillbirth rate in Iowa by more than 30% in the first 10 years (2008-2018). The free Count the Kicks app is a powerful stillbirth prevention tool to help expectant parents learn a simple method for fetal movement monitoring (kick counting). Healthy Birth Day, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to the prevention of stillbirth through programming, advocacy, and research. They are the primary stakeholders of The Maternal and Child Health Stillbirth Prevention Act (H.R. 4581) and a proud endorser of the SHINE for Autumn Act (H.R. 5012/S. 2657). Learn more at HealthyBirthDay.org and CountTheKicks.org. 

We are thrilled to let you know the Maternal and Child Health Stillbirth Prevention Act has passed in the United States Senate by unanimous consent. Senate File 2231 passed the Senate via hotline Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023. A huge THANK YOU to Senator Jeff Merkley (D-Oregon) and Senator Bill Cassidy (R-Louisiana) for leading this bill in the Senate and helping to ensure this bipartisan stillbirth prevention legislation moves onto the House of Representatives for consideration. 

We would also like to thank all of the cosponsors of the bill in the Senate, including: 

• Sen. Angus S. King, Jr. [I-Maine]
• Sen. James E. Risch [R-Idaho]
• Sen. Tammy Duckworth [D-Illinois]
• Sen. Chuck Grassley [R-Iowa]
• Sen. Mark Kelly [D-Arizona]
• Sen. Thomas Tillis [R-North Carolina]
• Sen. Elizabeth Warren  [D-Massachusetts]
• Sen. Steve Daines [R-Montana]
• Sen. Sherrod Brown [D-Ohio]
• Sen. Rick Scott [R-Florida]
• Sen. Chris Van Hollen [D-Maryland]
• Sen. Marco Rubio [R-Florida]
• Sen. Kirsten E. Gillibrand [D-New York]
• Sen. Cory A. Booker [D-New Jersey]
• Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse [D-RI] 
• Sen. Debbie Stabenow [D-Michigan]  
• Sen. Kyrsten Sinema [I-Arizona]  
• Sen. J.D. Vance [R-Ohio] 
• Sen. Amy Klobuchar [D-Minnesota]

This tremendous step would not have been possible without the courageous advocacy of the 50 stillbirth prevention advocates from 21 states who traveled to Washington, D.C. with us for National Stillbirth Prevention Day in September, and the 25 advocates who joined us in May. Collectively, this group of advocates attended 160+ meetings to discuss stillbirth prevention legislation with members of Congress and their staff. With their help and voices of thousands of other advocates like you, the stillbirth crisis is finally getting the attention it deserves!

From our Founders, Ambassadors, fellow stillbirth prevention organizations, and the entire team at Healthy Birth Day, Inc., we would like to thank each and every person who has taken action to advocate for stillbirth prevention legislation in the 118th Congress. This tremendous progress would not be possible without YOU. 

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What Comes Next?

The Maternal and Child Health Stillbirth Prevention Act is still under consideration in the House of Representatives. The companion legislation to the Senate bill is H.R.4581, and it was introduced in the House by Rep. Ashley Hinson (R-Iowa) and Rep. Alma Adams (D-North Carolina) on July 12, 2023. The bill currently has 27 cosponsors in the House of Representatives.

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Has your family been personally impacted by stillbirth? 

We have created a petition to help share your story with members of Congress. This petition will help legislators better understand why their support for both the Stillbirth Health Improvement and Education (SHINE) for Autumn Act (H.R. 5012/S. 2647) and the Maternal and Child Health Stillbirth Prevention Act (H.R. 4581/S. 2231) is crucial. 

Please take a few minutes to complete the petition and share why stillbirth prevention matters to you! 

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Resources for Stillbirth Prevention Advocates: 

• One-pager on Stillbirth Policy in the 118th Congress
• Learn more about the impact of stillbirth in the U.S.
• Find out if your members of Congress have signed on as cosponsors of stillbirth prevention legislation. 

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Thank you for helping us reach this milestone in the Senate and for your continued support to ensure we can push BOTH pieces of stillbirth prevention legislation through the finish line in Congress! Together we are creating systemic change for families in the U.S.

Maternal and Child Health Stillbirth Prevention Act of 2022 Introduced in Congress

Healthy Birth Day, Inc. Proud to be Primary Stakeholder of Stillbirth Prevention Legislation

Des Moines, Iowa- March 9, 2022: Today Congresswoman Alma Adams (D-North Carolina), Congresswoman Ashley Hinson (R-Iowa), Senator Jeff Merkley (D-Oregon) and Senator Bill Cassidy (R-Louisiana) introduced the bipartisan Maternal and Child Health Stillbirth Prevention Act of 2022 into Congress for consideration. The House and Senate companion legislation would add stillbirth and stillbirth prevention to Title V of the Social Security Act — something that has been lacking since the introduction of Title V back in 1935. Every year, 47,000 expectant parents will lose their baby to stillbirth, according to the CDC. 

Healthy Birth Day, Inc. the nonprofit organization that created the Count the Kicks stillbirth prevention campaign, helped initiate the legislation after discovering the omission of stillbirth from the most important piece of maternal health legislation in our country. The annual number of stillbirths far exceeds the number of deaths among children aged 0-14 years from preterm birth, SIDS, accidents, drownings, guns, fire, and flu combined. Racial disparities persist, with 1 out of every 96 Black pregnancies ending in stillbirth. Hispanic and Indigenous women are also at greater risk of losing their babies. 

The legislation recognizes that stillbirth (defined as the loss of a baby at 20 weeks or greater during pregnancy), and the disparity in those impacted by stillbirth, requires further research, support, and prevention programming. It also calls for evidence-based programs and activities and outcome research to reduce the incidence of stillbirth including tracking and awareness of fetal movements, improvement of birth timing for pregnant people with risk factors, initiatives that encourage safe sleeping positions for pregnant people, screening and surveillance for fetal growth restriction, efforts to achieve smoking cessation amongst pregnant people, community-based programs that provide home visits or other types of support, and any other research or evidence-based programming to prevent stillbirths.

“This legislation is for the hundreds of thousands of expectant parents in this country who have lost a baby to stillbirth. It is a strong, bipartisan effort to acknowledge the silent crisis of stillbirth in this country and that we must do more to prevent preventable stillbirths through awareness and funding. We have solutions to save babies NOW. We are deeply grateful to Congresswomen Adams and Hinson and Senators Cassidy and Merkley for championing this issue,” said Emily Price, Executive Director of Healthy Birth Day, Inc.

Healthy Birth Day, Inc. encourages families and maternal health professionals who have been impacted by stillbirth to share their personal stories at StillbirthStories.com and on a variety of Stillbirth Stories social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. The goal is to elevate the issue of stillbirth and to put a face to tragic birth outcomes that have long been ignored.

We encourage everyone who supports this legislation to learn more about the bill and reach out to your member of Congress to let them know you support it by visiting bit.ly/StillbirthPreventionAct.

The following organizations have endorsed the bill: American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), Association of Maternal & Child Health Programs (AMCHP), Black Mamas Matter Alliance, Every Mother Counts, Healthy Birth Day, Inc., The 2 Degrees Foundation, March of Dimes, Maternal Mental Health Leadership Alliance, Measure the Placenta, Mom Congress, Moms Rising Together, PUSH for Empowered Pregnancy, Reproductive and Placental Research Unit-Yale School of Medicine, Return to Zero: HOPE, 1st Breath, 2020 Mom, and Star Legacy Foundation.

About Healthy Birth Day, Inc.

Healthy Birth Day, Inc. is the 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that created the Count the Kicks public health campaign. The organization and prevention campaign were founded by five Greater Des Moines women who all lost daughters to stillbirth or infant death in the early 2000s. The free Count the Kicks app is a powerful stillbirth prevention tool to help expectant parents be more in tune with their bodies and their babies. The free Count the Kicks app has been downloaded more than 180,000 times in all 50 states and more than 140 countries. In Iowa, where Count the Kicks began, the state’s stillbirth rate dropped by nearly 32% in the first 10 years of the campaign (2008-2018) and in the first five years the African American rate decreased nearly 39%; all while the rest of the country remained relatively stagnant. Learn more at CountTheKicks.org. We also invite you to learn more about our advocacy work at HealthyBirthDay.org.