NYC Onesie Walk Launches #StillCounts Campaign to Raise Awareness of Stillbirth Crisis Facing NYC and the Nation
NYC Onesie Walk: On the Start of Pregnancy & Infant Loss Awareness Month, PUSH Volunteers & Allies to Walk Across Manhattan Holding up 900 Infant Onesies -- Representing the 900 Babies Born Still in NYC Every Year -- to Raise Awareness of Stillbirth Crisis;
Why We Need Change: Stillbirth Still Happens. 23,000 Babies are Born Still Every Year in the United States, Including 900 in NYC; Many of These Deaths are Preventable;
New Coalition Pushing for Change: PUSH for Empowered Pregnancy, Founded by Bereaved Families & Medical Providers, along with Maternal Health Allies at Healthy Birth Day, Inc. are on a Mission to End Preventable Stillbirth and Empower Expectant Parents with Tools for Stillbirth Prevention;
NEW YORK - On Friday, October 1st, 2021 PUSH for Empowered Pregnancy (PUSH), a coalition of bereaved parents, medical providers, and allies on a mission to end preventable stillbirth in the United States, launched its #StillCounts campaign with the NYC Onesie Walk to raise awareness of the stillbirth crisis facing New York City and the nation. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 23,000 babies are born still every year in the United States, including 900 babies in New York City (Vital Statistics of NY State).
“Two days before my due date in 2013, I walked into the hospital in labor thinking I was finally bringing home my baby girl. Instead, I walked out with an empty onesie and empty arms. Her name was Alana, and she #StillCounts,” says PUSH Executive Director Samantha Banerjee. “Every day, 65 U.S. families face the same brutal end to their otherwise normal and healthy pregnancies, and most of us never even heard the word ‘stillbirth’ before it happened to us. Families like mine were robbed of the chance to save our babies because no one ever bothered to inform us that stillbirth is a risk.”
The #StillCounts campaign kicked off with the first NYC Onesie Walk, where more than 35 PUSH volunteers marched across Manhattan holding a clothesline of 900 infant onesies, representing the 900 babies born still in New York City every year. The powerful demonstration was designed to visualize the grave extent of the stillbirth crisis in the five boroughs today, with each onesie signifying a baby that tragically did not make it home.
Prior to the NYC Onesie Walk, PUSH volunteers gathered for a press conference outside Central Park to formally kick off the #StillCounts national campaign. The group of babyloss families shared their stories about stillbirth to raise awareness that stillbirth still happens, and to empower expectant families with the information and resources they need to lower their risk of stillbirth.
"The silence around stillbirth is lethal." --Samantha Banerjee, PUSH Executive Director @ #StillCounts NYC Onesie Walk
PUSH and allies like Healthy Birth Day, Inc. the nonprofit organization behind the Count the Kicks stillbirth prevention campaign, are fighting to kickstart the pace of change in the United States using big, bold, innovative action to save as many babies' lives as possible, as quickly as possible.
“Research shows a change in a baby’s movements could be the earliest, and sometimes only indication that something may be wrong with a pregnancy. The FREE Count the Kicks app helps expectant parents get to know what is normal for their baby so they can contact their provider right away if there is a change. By counting kicks every day in the third trimester, expectant parents can be more in tune with their bodies and their babies, and let their provider know when something feels off,” said Emily Price, Executive Director for Healthy Birth Day, Inc.
"Families deserve to know that stillbirth still happens, even in healthy, low-risk pregnancies like mine." --Samantha Banerjee, PUSH Executive Director @ #StillCounts NYC Onesie Walk
“I never doubted that my daughter would be born alive, as stillbirth was never talked about during my pregnancy. I also had no information about counting kicks or understanding my daughter's specific movement patterns,” PUSH Legislative Lead Abigail Wallace recounted. “Once we got to the end of pregnancy I thought we would get a living child - that was the deal. Yet at 40+1, during labor, she died due to a cord accident. I felt like I had failed her.”
“1 in 170 US pregnancies end in stillbirth. The odds of being killed in a plane crash are only 1 in 11 million, but we don't shy away from educating every single passenger on every single flight what to do in the event of an emergency. Why the double standard?” PUSH Medical Co-Director Fernanda Sheridan asks. “We’re losing the same number of lives to stillbirth as if a plane full of babies crashed every week.”
“I believe Margot was saved as a result of several puzzle pieces all being in place at the time of her birth. Knowing about and utilizing the Count the Kicks app empowered me to trust my instincts when I felt something was wrong with my baby; having a provider who believed me when I mentioned my concerns; and knowing about stillbirth from other mothers sharing their stories all helped to save Margot. I don’t believe mothers should have to be lucky in order to bring home a healthy baby,” said Cathleen Wolff, a baby save mom and Kentucky Ambassador for Count the Kicks.
The CDC defines a stillbirth as the death of a baby in utero at or after 20 weeks of pregnancy. Many of these deaths are otherwise healthy babies and occur in normal, uneventful, low-risk pregnancies. With better awareness and simple prevention strategies, a significant portion of these babies could be saved, especially those that occur in the 3rd trimester.
23,000 babies are born still in the U.S. every year, including 900 in NYC - that’s 1 in 170 pregnancies
65 babies are lost to stillbirth every day in the U.S. - that’s three kindergarten classes every single day
Black mothers are twice as likely to suffer a stillbirth, compared to other races (CDC Wonder)
Research shows that at least 25% of U.S. stillbirths are preventable; for term pregnancies (37+ weeks), that jumps to nearly half (47%) of stillbirths
In the first 10 years of the Count the Kicks campaign in Iowa (2008-2018), the state’s stillbirth rate decreased nearly 32% while the rest of the country remained relatively stagnant.
Stillbirth is closely linked to maternal mortality and morbidity - mothers who deliver a stillborn baby are almost five times as likely to experience severe maternal complications