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Statement

Moms Applaud Congress for Designating September 19 as National Stillbirth Prevention Day

September 19, 2022
Maternal Health, Maternal Mortality, Reproductive Justice

Lisa Lederer, 202/371-1996

Statement of leaders of MomsRising, the online and on-the-ground organization of more than one million mothers and their families, on the designation of September 19, 2022 as National Stillbirth Prevention Day:

“America’s moms are grateful to U.S. Representatives Alma Adams (D-NC) and Ashley Hinson (R-IA) and U.S. Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ), Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Jeff Merkley (D-OR) for championing the resolution to designate September 19, 2022 as National Stillbirth Prevention Day. In the United States, some 23,000 pregnancies end in stillbirth each year. That is more than 60 stillbirths every day, and they bring crushing disappointment and immense grief to moms and families. These heartbreaking tragedies are especially common among Black mothers, who experience stillbirths at double the rate of their white counterparts. These and other longstanding, relentless racial disparities, which have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, must end.

“So too must the fact that stillbirth remains one of our most underfunded and understudied public health issues. It’s time not just to bring this issue out of the shadows, but also for meaningful action. We urge the U.S. Senate to pass the bipartisan Stillbirth Health Improvement and Education for Autumn (SHINE for Autumn) Act, which the U.S. House of Representatives passed last year. It will help reduce the country’s stillbirth rate by providing resources to state and federal health departments; enhancing data collection, analysis and reporting about stillbirths; funding research into it; and raising awareness.” 

-Statement of Tina Sherman, Senior Campaign Director, MomsRising

“We also urge Congress to pass the bipartisan Maternal and Child Health Stillbirth Prevention Act, which supports evidence-based programs including tracking fetal movement and funding for community-based programs to prevent stillbirth.

“Our country must do much more to protect the health of pregnant women and infants and, when that isn’t possible, to support the moms and other family members who suffer heartbreaking loss. Instead of stripping away our ability to access the health care we need, lawmakers should ensure that we can choose if and when to have children, access abortion care, and have the healthiest pregnancies possible.”

-Statement of Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner, Executive Director and CEO, MomsRising

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MomsRising.org is an on-the-ground and online grassroots organization of more than a million people who are working to increase family economic security, decrease discrimination against women and moms, and to build a nation where businesses and families can thrive. Established in 2006, MomsRising and its members are organizing and speaking out to improve public policy and to change the national dialogue on issues that are critically important to America’s families, including criminal justice reform, immigration policy reform, and gun safety. MomsRising is working for paid family and medical leave, affordable, high quality childcare and early learning, and for an end to the wage and hiring discrimination which penalizes women — particularly moms and women of color — and so many others. MomsRising advocates for access to healthy food for all kids, health care for all, earned sick days, and breastfeeding rights so that all children can have a healthy start. MomsRising maintains a Spanish language website: MamásConPoder.org. Sign up online at www.MomsRising.org — and follow us on our blog, and on Twitter and Facebook.