Washington, DC – U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) today cheered the news that President Joe Biden has signed into law the Maternal and Child Health Stillbirth Prevention Act, legislation that will help bring down the shockingly high rate of stillbirths and maternal mortality in the United States by opening up more federal resources for stillbirth prevention activities and research. Whitehouse is a cosponsor of the bill, which was authored by Senators Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA). The legislation was unanimously passed in the Senate in mid-June and was signed into law by the President on Friday.
“Maternal health issues, including stillbirth pregnancy loss, are deeply personal realities for far too many Rhode Island women – especially for Black women. It’s more important than ever that we find commonsense, bipartisan solutions to bolster reproductive health care for women,” said Whitehouse. “This new law will help raise the standard of prenatal health care so that more women and families can thrive.”
The Maternal and Child Health Stillbirth Prevention Act amends the Maternal and Child Health Services Block Grant of the Social Security Act to clarify that stillbirth prevention activities and research are an allowable use of funds.
One out of 75 U.S. births tragically result in stillbirths, accounting for nearly 21,000 stillbirths a year—more stillbirths annually than the number of babies who pass away during their first year of life. Last year in Rhode Island, the stillbirth rate ticked up to 6.0 (per 1000 births) from 4.9 in 2019, and climbed to 12.8 for Black families.
In the last two decades, the stillbirth rate in the United States declined by just 0.4 percent, and, in a report published by the World Health Organization comparing progress in improving stillbirth rates, the United States ranked 183 out of 195 countries.
In addition to Senators Whitehouse, Merkley and Cassidy, the legislation is cosponsored by Angus King (I-ME), Jim Risch (R-ID), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Thom Tillis (R-NC), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Steve Daines (R-MT), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Rick Scott (R-FL), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ), J.D. Vance (R-OH), and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN).
The Maternal and Child Health Stillbirth Prevention Act is endorsed by over 25 organizations, including the nation’s leading maternal-health advocacy organizations, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the Association of Maternal & Child Health Programs, and the March of Dimes.
