Pause and Consider

In the blogosphere there are many neighborhoods.  There is the mommy blogger neighborhood, the autism neighborhood, the political neighborhood, the green neighborhood.  The list goes on and on. In my recent travels through the blogosphere, I came across a new neighborhood recently.

The neighborhood of infertility and pregnancy loss.

Unfortunately, it appears to be a fairly large place to live.  One neighbor I've been getting to know there is Antigone.  Her blog is called Antigone Lost. Antigone's blog packs a power punch as she shares her life story.  It is heartbreaking at times, but it is also full of joy as she chronicles her current pregnancy.  She is about 27 weeks along with a little boy whose blog nickname is Perseus.

October 15th is National Pregnancy and Infancy Loss Remembrance Day in the United States.  Here is a quote from a September 30th post on Antigone Lost:

October 15th is National Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day in the United States. More than 25,000 children are stillborn in the United States every year leaving mothers, entire families and communities devastated. Estimates of the rate of occurrence of stillbirth make it at least as common as autism.

Stillbirth is not an intractable problem. Greater research would likely significantly reduce its incidence, but good research requires good data. H.R. 5979: Stillbirth Awareness and Research Act is under consideration by Congress. This proposed bill would standardize stillbirth investigation and diagnosis, thus providing more data for the needed research. Better research means fewer children born still.

While I haven't been personally affected by stillbirth, I did have a miscarriage almost 19 years ago and I know several people who have lost little ones at mid and late stages in their pregnancies.  I encourage you to take a moment to read Antigone's post in remembrance of the losses people have suffered and in support of the Stillbirth Awareness and Research Act.