U.S. Representative Robin Kelly (D-Ill.) continues efforts to improve maternal health by co-sponsoring Stillbirth Health Improvement Education (SHINE) for fall legislation introduced in Congress in March. ing.
The bill, HR 5012, passed the House Energy and Commerce Committee Health Subcommittee. This legislation aims to prevent stillbirth through data collection, research, education, and awareness by creating the first comprehensive federal-state partnership to reduce stillbirth rates in the United States.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, stillbirth affects 1 in 170 pregnancies, more than 21,000 babies are born still every year, and 57 babies die every day. In the United States, stillbirths far exceed deaths of children 0-14 years old each year from accidents, premature births, SIDS, drownings, fires, and influenza combined.
“Reducing the risk of stillbirth and providing support to mothers and families who suffer such losses is essential to improving maternal and child health in the United States,” Kelly said.
She is co-chair of the Maternity Care Caucus. She represents Homewood and Flossmoor in Congress.
“As co-chair of the Maternity Care Caucus, I am proud to work with my colleague Congressman Young Kim (R-Calif.) to identify bipartisan policies that will give more families the opportunity to thrive. Mothers deserve a healthy pregnancy and a happy life with their babies. I am committed to ending the maternal health crisis and providing mothers and babies with the care they need.”
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The SHINE for Autumn Act aims to support stillbirth data, research and education by enabling:
Grants to states to support data collection, evaluation, and reporting on stillbirth and stillbirth risk factors.
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) works with health care providers to develop stillbirth data collection, data sharing, and stillbirth statistics and statistics guidelines and educational materials for state health departments.
Introduces the Perinatal Pathology Fellowship Program at NIH to fund stillbirth research fellowships, including fetal dissection research and training, teaching, research, and improving data collection.
Report on the effectiveness of the Perinatal Pathology Fellowship Program five years after its establishment.
