Background
Stillbirth is the term health care providers use to describe the
unplanned loss of a fetus due to natural
causes late in the pregnancy. Many healthcare providers consider the loss of a fetus
a stillbirth after
about 20 weeks gestation, but there is not yet a standard definition of stillbirth used by the federal
government,
state and local governments, healthcare providers, and healthcare advocacy organizations.
Approximately one in every 160
pregnancies in the United States ends in stillbirth each year. Stillbirths
can occur before delivery or as a result of complications during
labor and delivery. In at least
half of all cases, physicians can find no cause for the pregnancy loss. Some stillbirth mothers
are
young,
in good health, and had used good prenatal care practices throughout the pregnancy.
In some cases of stillbirth, the mother
may notice a decrease in fetal movement or a decrease in kicking
of a fetus toward the end of the pregnancy.
Why is this legislation necessary?
Despite the relatively high incidence
of stillbirths yearly in the United States, there have been little
concentrated research efforts into this type of pregnancy loss.
CDC does currently collect data on
stillbirths, but the data set is neither complete nor standardized; stillbirth data is compiled
by CDC
with the U.S. Standard Report of Fetal Death, which is completed on a state-by-state basis without the
use of a standard
protocol on the local level.
What would H.R. 521 do?
H.R. 521 seeks to standardize the definition of stillbirth and the
method in which stillbirth data is
collected so that there can be a national repository for stillbirth data with which to conduct
comprehensive
research efforts. H.R. 521 also authorizes a campaign to increase public awareness of good
prenatal care practices, fetal
movement awareness, and measures to maintain a healthy pregnancy,
which may decrease the risk for stillbirth.
In addition, H.R. 521 contains
a provision encouraging NIH to allocate more resources to stillbirth
research. The bill would also encourage more states to enact legislation
allowing the issuance of a
Certificate of Birth Resulting in Stillbirth, as opposed to the formerly more standard practice
of issuing
only a death certificate in the case of a stillbirth.