“Stillbirth continues to happen. The silence around it needs to end.”
New article in The Washington Post by our very own Samantha Banerjee, Executive Director of PUSH for Empowered Pregnancy
"It was the first thing I saw when we came back from the hospital: the drying rack with tiny, pristine clothes.
The last-minute assortment of baby apparel had arrived too late to bring our daughter home in, as I had planned. But, hung lovingly after a quick wash in organic baby detergent just hours before we departed for her delivery, they would be perfect for newborn photos upon our return.
I buried her in those clothes.
Our daughter, Alana, never got to take a breath. Just two days before her due date, her life was stolen by the same silent crisis that’s claiming 65 other children’s lives — three kindergarten classes — every single day in the United States: Stillbirth. My husband and I never knew it still happened, until it happened to us."
Continue reading at washingtonpost.com
In this new article published December 11, 2021 in the Washington Post, our Executive Director Samantha Durante Banerjee lays out the shocking facts about stillbirth, and the stunning lack of awareness of these preventable deaths, even as dozens of families are robbed of their children every single day.
The article also includes expert testimonial from several PUSH Board Members & Medical Advisors, including Dr. Joanne Stone (Chair of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Science for the Mount Sinai Health System & leader of the soon-to-launch NYC Rainbow Clinic), Dr. Harvey Kliman (Placenta Research Scientist & the Director of Yale’s Reproductive and Placental Research Unit), and Professor Jill Lens (of the University of Arkansas School of Law, a leading expert on legal recognition and treatment of stillbirth). With commentary from these veritable stillbirth superheroes, Samantha lays out the larger systemic issues standing in the way of progress on stillbirth prevention, and issues a call-to-action to all stillbirth families to come together to break the silence on silence on stillbirth and demand immediate action from our nation's leaders.
It's almost 2022, yet there are still over 23,000 stillbirths every year in the US. That's 1 in 170 pregnancies where parents are returning home from the hospital without their precious baby. And these numbers have barely budged in decades. These are alarming statistics that PUSH for Empowered Pregnancy is demanding that we come together as a nation to change.
Other countries have proven that this change can happen. It's time for the US to step up to plate and fight for our children's lives.
Read Samantha’s insightful article to learn more about her personal experience with stillbirth and the work that is being done to end the silence.
Psst - Don't miss the informative sidebar at the bottom listing "10 Ways to Lower Your Risks of Stillbirth" - please share with any expectant families you know!
#UnitedWePush For Families, For Babies, For Change.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/how-common-is-stillbirth/2021/12/10/58820b22-3282-11ec-93e2-dba2c2c11851_story.html (Stuck behind the pay wall? Let us know - we can gift you a copy!)
Thank you to PUSH Changemaker Wendy Leavitt for drafting this blog post in honor of her first daughter, Maggie Sami Leavitt, who was born still at 36 weeks gestation on 6/14/21.