On Tuesday, the Senate passed a bill that specifically authorizes states to use federal funds totaling millions of dollars to prevent stillbirths.
After passing the House in mid-May, the Maternal and Child Health Stillbirth Prevention Act now heads to President Joe Biden, who is anticipated to sign it into law.
For the past two years, ProPublica has been covering the crisis surrounding stillbirths, which are defined as the death of an expecting child at 20 weeks or more of pregnancy. Over 20,000 pregnancies in the United States result in stillbirths each year. According to research, up to 1 in 4 stillbirths might be avoidable.
Without appropriating any more cash, the bipartisan bill alters the Social Security Act to include stillbirth prevention and research among the initiatives eligible to receive funding from the Title V program, which is already in place and devoted to enhancing the health of mothers and children.
Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., praised ProPublica for raising awareness of the stillbirth crisis and said, “This bill is the first step to preventing stillbirths across America, and I will keep pushing to deliver the federal resources needed to bring down the shockingly high rate of stillbirths and maternal mortality in the United States.”
