Losing a child to stillbirth is something no one should ever have to experience.  Until it visits you personally, understanding how life-changing infant loss can be, is something very few people can fathom.  On February 24, 2015, an otherwise uneventful pregnancy with our first born, Alexander, ended suddenly with the dreaded words that still echo in my ears today, "I'm sorry, there's no heartbeat".  All the dreams and plans we made over the last 9 1/2 months were shattered and we were forced to collect the pieces of our broken future in an effort to create a new normal. The next few days and weeks were spent feeling isolated. The more research I did, the more I realized that many more families were affected by this tragedy.  In this country alone, 1 in 160 pregnancies end in stillbirth...that's one baby and one family every 21 minutes!  Worldwide, it's even more staggering...over 3 million babies a year are stillborn.  And in over 50% of the cases, the cause is unknown. In far too many instances, these stillbirths could have been prevented. Very few people realize that this is a public health crisis perhaps because its a topic that makes many uncomfortable. But it happens...and it happens enough.

It's time to make a change and I believe the Star Legacy Foundation will help this happen.

I am so excited to be participating in the Let's Not Be Still! New York. Money raised from this event will be used to increase awareness, support research, promote education, and encourage advocacy and family support regarding stillbirth.

 

Please help by supporting me.