,,ii  #aagth ,,congress  #b;d ,session  
,s4 #cgig  ,,in ,,the ,,senate ,,of     
,,the ,,united ,,states  ,march #aj     
7legislative day1 ,march #g71 #bjbb,mr4 
,merkley 7for himself1 ,mr4 ,cassidy1   
,ms4 ,duckworth1 and ,ms4 ,warren7      
introduced the following bill2 which was
 read twice and referred to the         
,committee on ,finance  ,a ,,bill  ,to  
amend title ,v of the ,social ,security 
,act to support stillbirth prevention   
and research1 and for other purposes4   
#a4 ,short title ,this ,act may be cited
 as the ,maternal and ,child ,health    
,stillbirth ,prevention ,act of #bjbb4  
#b4 ,findings ,congress finds the       
following3 7#a7 ,according to the       
,centers for ,disease ,control and      
,prevention-- 7,a7 in the ,united       
,states1 #a in #afi births are affected 
by stillbirth each year amounting to    
#bc1ejj stillbirths annually1 of which  
#f1ijj of these are ,black or           
,african-,american stillbirths2  7,b7   
the number of stillbirths each year is  

greater than the number of babies that  
die during the first year of life2  7,c7
 annual stillbirths are more than ten   
times the number of annual deaths due to
 ,sudden ,infant ,death ,syndrome       
7,,sids72  7,d7 stillbirth occurs across
 all demographics and in otherwise      
healthy pregnancies4 ,it is most common1
 however1 among women who-- 7i7 are     
,black or ,african ,american1 at two    
times more likely than ,white women to  
have a stillbirth2  7ii7 are of lower   
socioeconomic status2  7iii7 are        
diagnosed with high blood pressure1     
diabetes1 obesity1 or other medical     
conditions2  7iv7 are #ce years of age  
or older2  7v7 smoke cigarettes while   
pregnant2  7vi7 have previously         
experienced pregnancy loss2 or  7vii7   
have multiple pregnancies1 for example  
triplets2 and  7,e7 while the rate of   
stillbirth has declined since the #aidjs
 due to improvements in maternity care1 
in recent years1 the decline has slowed 
or halted4  7#b7 ,according to a study  

by researcher ,wall-,wieler et al41     
published in ,obstetrics and            
,gynecology1 the risk of severe maternal
 morbidity among stillbirth deliveries  
was more than fourfold higher compared  
with live birth deliveries4  7#c7       
,according to a study by researcher     
,mc,clure et al41 published in the      
,international ,journal of ,gynecology  
and ,obstetrics1 stillbirth was         
significantly associated with maternal  
mortality4  7#d7 ,according to a review 
article by ,murphy and ,cacciatore1     
published in ,seminars in ,fetal        
,neonatal ,medicine1 stillbirth has     
psychological impacts on parents like   
grief1 shame1 and guilt and impacts to  
family functioning and well-being4  7#e7
 ,stillbirth1 and the disparity in those
 impacted by stillbirth requires further
 research1 support1 and prevention      
programming4  #c4 ,clarification        
supporting permissible use of funds for 
stillbirth prevention activities        
,section #eja7;a7 of the ,social        

,security ,act 7#db ,u4,s4,c4 #gja7;a77 
is amended-- 7#a7 in paragraph          
7#a77;,b71 by inserting to reduce the   
incidence of stillbirth1 after among    
children12 and  7#b7 in paragraph 7#b71 
by inserting after follow-up services   
the following3 1 and for evidence-based 
programs and activities and outcome     
research to reduce the incidence of     
stillbirth 7including tracking and      
awareness of fetal movements1           
improvement of birth timing for         
pregnancies with risk factors1          
initiatives that encourage safe sleeping
 positions during pregnancy1 screening  
and surveillance for fetal growth       
restriction1 efforts to achieve smoking 
cessation during pregnancy1             
community-based programs that provide   
home visits or other types of support1  
and any other research or evidence-based
 programming to prevent stillbirths74