We’ve created sample wording you can use in a written letter to decision makers. It’s also important to share your personal story about why stillbirth prevention matters to you. Feel free to use the template wording below, and then find contact information for your Representatives and Senators. Please include your return postal mailing address when corresponding with a Congressional office.
Dear {Insert Name},
I am writing to encourage you to support the Maternal and Child Health Stillbirth Prevention Act. This bipartisan and vitally important bill 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 funding back in 1935. This is a glaring omission of stillbirth from the most important piece of maternal health legislation in our country.
Every year 44,600 expectant parents lose their baby to stillbirth, according to the CDC. 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 97 Black pregnancies ending in stillbirth. Native Hawaiian, Other Pacific Islanders and American Indian or Alaska Native pregnancies are also at greater risk of experiencing a stillbirth.
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.
The following organizations have endorsed the bipartisan 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., March of Dimes, Maternal Mental Health Leadership Alliance, 1st Breath, 2020 Mom, 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, and Star Legacy Foundation.
We would be so grateful for your support — we encourage you to sign on as a co-sponsor today.
With Gratitude,
{Insert Your Name Here}
Would you like to ask your decision maker for a meeting? We’d be happy to attend with you and can help you prepare. Please reach out to us at info@healthybirthday.org in advance of your meeting request!
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