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Maryland Chapter

Welcome to the Maryland Chapter of the Star Legacy Foundation!

Established in 2018 and serving the entire state, the Maryland Chapter of the Star Legacy Foundation is a motivated group of parents, relatives, and friends of stillborn babies.

Our mission is to prevent the tragic loss of children to stillbirth by increasing awareness and addressing the stigma surrounding stillbirth, educating obstetric professionals and expectant families, and raising funds for research. We are also establishing a program to provide peer support to families grieving the loss of a baby.

If you are in our area and want to connect with other parents who have experienced the loss of a stillborn child, or want to work to prevent pregnancy loss and neonatal death, please contact us. We also welcome questions from expectant parents who want to learn what they can do to ensure a healthy pregnancy.

Contact the Maryland Chapter

Phone: 952-715-7731, ext. 713

Email: [email protected]

Why We Do What We Do

Facts about Stillbirth

Stillbirth is the most understudied issue in medicine today.

The stillbirth rate in the U.S. has not changed in the last 50 years.

More than 26,000 babies are stillborn each year—71 per day.

One in 160 pregnancies end in stillbirth.

In Maryland in 2018, there were 503 fetal deaths, commonly known as stillbirths—loss of the baby in utero after 20 weeks gestation. This is a rate of 7.0 per 1,000 births, down slightly from 2017.

There were 445 perinatal deaths—loss of the baby after 28 weeks of gestation through 7 days post-birth. This is a rate of 6.2 per 1,000 deliveries (down slightly from 2017).

Finally, there were 432 infant deaths (loss of the baby in the first year of life), the majority from pregnancy-related complications. This is a rate of 6.1 per 1,000 live births (down slightly from 2017).

50% of stillbirths occur at full term and the babies often seem to be otherwise healthy.

85% of stillbirths occur before delivery.

Nearly 2/3 of all stillbirth deaths remain unexplained.

Stillbirth deaths cut across all socio-economic classes, races, religions, and maternal age groups.

More babies are stillborn annually than die from prematurity and SIDS combined.

77% of parents never worried their baby would die after the first trimester.

The U.S. ranks 48th out of 49 developed nations in the world for annual rate of reduction of stillbirths.

Perhaps the greatest obstacle to addressing stillbirths is stigma.

Source: Star Legacy Foundation

Chapter Plans and Projects

The Maryland chapter leadership team meets monthly to strategize our upcoming plans and goals. These include:

  • Conducting perinatal bereavement training for hospital staffs to help ensure that grieving families receive compassionate care
  • Recruiting participants for the Pregnancy Research Project, in which patients may contribute information about their pregnancies to a living database for pregnancy researchers
  • Gathering care packages with comfort items to share with bereaved families while in the hospital
  • Coordinating delivery of Star Legacy Foundations’ free resources to OBs, doctors, and hospitals

Join Our Team!

We are looking to expand our presence by recruiting volunteers from around the state of Maryland. Interested in getting involved? Please contact us at [email protected] and let us know your interests. We look forward to meeting you!

Our Team

  • coming soon!

Family Support

If you or someone you know is grieving the loss of a child, you can call 952-715-7731, ext. 1. Certified grief counselors are available 24/7 to take your call.

Star Legacy Foundation provides live, online support groups for families who have experienced a perinatal loss and for individuals experiencing a pregnancy after a loss. Groups are held via HIPAA compliant videoconferencing and facilitated by trained health professionals. Registration is required only for the first time you attend.  After that you will receive a reminder before each session that will include login information specific to each session.  Learn more about Support Groups.

REGISTER HERE FOR ANY OF THE SUPPORT GROUPS.

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