Stillbirth & SUID Prevention, Education, & Awareness Act

I've blogged about this before, and I hope the next time I blog about it I'll be able to tell you that Congress has passed this act and the hard work of saving baby's lives has begun.

The Stillbirth & SUID Prevention, Education & Awareness Act would provide research money to investigate stillbirth and SUID as well as create a national databank of infant deaths, potentially leading to prevention of infant death. (And I realize I am preaching to the choir, but I hope someone might stumble on this and become informed.)

Why? Well, about 26,000 babies are stillborn in the US every year. 50% of those deaths are unexplained. That's 13,000 babies.

Let me repeat that: 13,000 babies are stillborn each year AND NO ONE KNOWS WHY.

Another 4,600 babies succumb to SUID (Sudden Unexplained Infant Death) in the first year of life. Another 200 children between the ages of 1 and 4 die for no apparent reason.

Let's tally that up: 26,000 + 4,600 + 200 = 30,800.

30,800 - 13,000 (babies who are stillborn and the cause is known) = 17,800.

Approximately 17,800 babies die each year without discernible cause.

That is not acceptable.

If this bill is passed, it might be possible to discover why many of those 17,800 babies die, and it might be possible to prevent babies from dying in the future.

For more information, please visit the CJ Foundation for SIDS. There is a link on the home page where you can click and write a letter to your members of Congress.

Thank you.