The community support that we have received from friends and family near and far has been truly amazing. On June 5, 2018, I was 36 weeks pregnant and went into labor. When we arrived at the hospital the doctor told us that our baby did not have a heartbeat, our daughter had died.
Just days prior I had a healthy check-up - complete with an ultrasound. Both mom and baby had a healthy pregnancy and the cause is still unknown. Surprisingly little is known about the causes of stillbirths and the prevalence of preterm birth and stillbirth constitutes a global health crisis resulting in millions of maternal and newborn deaths every year.
Because of limitations in research targeted at understanding the genetics and biology of normal pregnancy, we have a huge deficit in our knowledge of the causes of stillbirth and prematurity. This knowledge gap is one of the greatest barriers to developing effective diagnostic, prevention and treatment interventions.
Few practical interventions exist, and without data, researchers cannot conduct the studies that could lead to life-saving prevention techniques and therapies. This is not a job for one or two isolated organizations. It’s a comprehensive global effort uniting researchers, healthcare institutions, citizen’s groups, global health advocates, policy-makers, families and mothers.
Donations will go directly to GAPPS – the Global Alliance to Prevent Prematurity and Stillbirth. You can read more of their mission here: gapps.org.
