The Moving Forward Act

Why This Legislation is Necessary

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Every day in the United States, nearly 55 families lose a baby to stillbirth. That statistic that has a solution. We have the data, the tools, and the evidence to reduce that number significantly. What we have lacked is the policy infrastructure to make that education standard, funded, and required. 

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We know that changes in fetal movement can be the first - and sometimes the only - warning sign that a baby or parent is in distress. We know that when expectant parents are educated to recognize those changes and empowered to speak up, lives are saved.

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The legal authority to act already exists. The Maternal and Child Health Stillbirth Prevention Act, signed into law in July 2024, clarified that Title V funds - the single largest federal funding mechanism for maternal and child health - can and should be used for stillbirth prevention. Unfortunately fewer than 20 state health departments are currently using any portion of those funds for this purpose, leaving expectant parents in most states more vulnerable than they need to be.

States that have implemented coordinated, statewide fetal movement education campaigns have seen measurable results:

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• Iowa reduced its stillbirth rate by 32% over ten years.

• Ohio reduced its rate by nearly 16% in approximately 8 years.

• Wisconsin was on its way to surpassing those states, achieving a 7% reduction in just two years - and then funding ended and the expansion efforts have been left to volunteers.

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We know that this crisis does not touch every family equally. Black and Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander parents lose babies to stillbirth at more than twice the rate of White parents. The same disparities that drive maternal mortality drive stillbirth. Closing this gap requires policy that reaches every family, in every community, through every provider.