Our Goals

1.

Build public awareness of S.A.D.S. and the fact that most stillborn babies were not "fetuses" but viable babies otherwise capable of medically supported life and normal development outside the womb. For this reason we call them "vianates".

2.

Enact legislation in all states modeled after Arizona's Missing Angels Act that would require the issuance of a Certificate of Birth Resulting in Stillbirth for all stillborn babies, past and future, thereby providing official acknowledgement of the mother's having given birth, even though her baby was born still.

3.

Introduce federal legislation to create a uniform post mortem protocol for stillbirths and support the establishment of a centralized repository for the filing of autopsies conducted under such protocol. Require that autopsies be offered at no charge to parents of all third trimester stillborn babies.

4.

Promote the establishment of a "best practices" protocol for pregnancy management. Such a protocol shall include ultrasound and NST testing to screen pregnant women for potential umbilical cord problems including loops and cord compressions that produce FHB decelerations which can result in a stillborn baby.  

5.

Promote the development of an at-home home fetal heartbeat monitor with real-time Internet reporting software. Encourage the deployment of such systems for use during maternal sleep when most cord-related stillbirths occur.

6.

Promote specialty pregnancy clinics utilizing the "best practices" protocol in place of the current "one-size-fits-all" standard now in use, which "standard" is set by what insurers will pay for, rather than available technology and medical need.

7.

Create a media awareness campaign to promote “Kick Counting” to monitor the well-being and activity level of a developing baby, and to help the mother to identify potential incidents of fetal distress which could result in a stillbirth.

8.

Create a "National Center for Stillbirth Research" to serve as a repository for extant stillbirth data, case studies, articles, etc. Build a knowledge base that would comprise the core information needed to facilitate empirical analysis into causes of unexplained stillbirths, the area most likely to benefit from such research.

9.

Build Support for Stillbirth Organ Donation  A part of us dies when our baby is born still, and yet there's a way for a part of our baby to "live on" through organ donation. Not all babies will qualify to be organ donors but for those that do it can mean that the life of another infant could be saved. 

10.

Establish a nationwide network of stillbirth parents and appoint Directors in every state whose task it will be to co-ordinate these parents in their state in order to effectively lobby their elected officials to implement the goals of The National Stillbirth Society and to serve as a liaison with the National headquarters.