Rollins Faculty Celebrates New Stillbirth Prevention Act at Whitehouse
By Shelby Crosier
About 21,000 babies are stillborn every year in the United States. Advances in maternal care have drastically lowered stillbirth rates since the early 1900’s, but the decline has grown stagnant in recent years, and more action is still needed to further improve efforts to avoid this tragic birth outcome.
Lauren Christiansen-Lindquist, PhD, associate professor of epidemiology, has long used her expertise as a maternal and child health epidemiologist to advocate for stillbirth prevention policies. She recently was an invited guest at a stillbirth prevention event hosted by the Office of the Vice President on July 8, which, in part, celebrated the passage of a piece of legislation that Christiansen-Lindquist and others have been advocating for over the past few years. This invite-only event included researchers, advocates, members of the Biden-Harris administration, and families who have experienced a stillbirth.
The Maternal and Child Health Stillbirth Prevention (SPA) Act clarifies that Title V block grant funds, used by states to finance maternal and child health programs, can be used for stillbirth prevention activities. The bill passed both the Senate and the House of Representatives and is expected to be signed by the President this week.
“Stillbirth was always an eligible activity [through Title V], but it was never specifically listed as an example of something that the funds could be used for. It's exciting that this bill will raise awareness that Title V funds could be used for stillbirth prevention,” says Christiansen-Lindquist.
This act is an important step forward in bringing national attention to stillbirth prevention, but it is only a first step. Another piece of legislation, the Stillbirth Health Improvement and Education (SHINE) for Autumn Act, is also making its way through Congress. This bill would authorize funding to improve stillbirth education, awareness, training, and data collection efforts.
Christiansen-Lindquist hopes that the passage of the SPA Act will pave the way for the SHINE for Autumn Act, which targets the areas of greatest need for addressing stillbirth in the U.S.
“We fund what we care about, and we find ways to put money towards the things that we want to address,” says Christiansen-Lindquist. “My hope is that we can do that here for stillbirth.”
