Great Lakes Wire

MPHI employees Abby Collier, Director, and Susanna Joy, Project Coordinator, of the National Center for Fatality Review and Prevention (National Center) participated in a celebration of the passage of the Maternal Child Health Stillbirth Prevention Act at the Office of the Vice President on July 7, 2024.

The Maternal Child Health Stillbirth Prevention Act is a bipartisan bill that seeks to advance stillbirth prevention efforts. The bill was unanimously passed by the Senate on June 11, 2024, and signed into law by President Biden on July 12. The legislation allows for expanded use of Title V Maternal Child Health Block Grant funds to address stillbirth through research and prevention activities.

“Stillbirth is a profound public health challenge, with over 20,000 stillbirths happening in the United States every year,” said Joy.

The National Center works to research and mitigate this public health issue and other public health risks to infants and children in the United States. The National Center is located in MPHI’s Center for National Prevention Initiatives (CNPI) and serves as the technical support and resource center for Fetal and Infant Mortality Review (FIMR) and Child Death Review (CDR) programs. Stillbirth fatality review is conducted by FIMR teams across the country, which work to understand and drive prevention of stillbirths at local, state, and national levels. The Maternal Child Health Stillbirth Prevention Act will support further research into stillbirth prevention.

For more information on the National Center and the Maternal Child Health Stillbirth Prevention Act, visit:

The National Center for Fatality Review and Prevention – Keeping Kids Alive (ncfrp.org)

H.R.4581 – 118th Congress (2023-2024): Maternal and Child Health Stillbirth Prevention Act of 2024 | Congress.gov | Library of Congress