A program created in Iowa to try and cut the number of stillborn babies could become a national model if a bill introduced in congress becomes law. Kim Piper of the Iowa Department of Public Health says they hope the Iowa Stillbirth Surveillance Program will eventually help reduce the number of fetal deaths.
"We collect information about stillbirths so we can conduct analysis on that data to determine if there’s anything we can build a prevention program around, some type of intervention," Piper says. Piper says the bill would expand the program to 12 other states, and eventually nationwide.
Piper says, "It has always been the intent of the Iowa project to establish a program that can be used by other states. So it’s my understanding that this legislation would support that replication in other states." The Iowa program came about through the efforts of State Representative Janet Peterson of Des Moines who had a stillborn baby.
The only other surveillance program in the country covers the city of Atlanta Georgia.