Thinking outside the box……

September 5, 2012
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Last October, Star Legacy Foundation hosted the Stillbirth Summit 2011.  After thinking about this type of an event for a while, we decided to pull the trigger and make it happen!

There are so many fantastic people working on stillbirth prevention around the world.  Looking through some of those efforts, we discovered some similarities and overlapping concepts that were very exciting.  Our minds wandered to ‘what if’ we could get these brilliant minds in the same room to share their findings.  The biggest winner of that type of event would be the babies!

The focus was on stillbirth topics that are emerging ideas and ‘outside the box’ thinkers.  We needed people who are open-minded and looking at all aspects of this considerable problem.  We got just that – and so much more!!  Fortunately, we had a great response from these researchers who were all very willing to participate.

The topics included infection, hypotension, thrombophilias, sleep, placenta, cord, and fetal movement.  Researchers included Dr. Harvey Kliman, Dr. Uma Reddy, Dr. Mana Parast, Dr. Moraji Peesay, Dr. Louise O’Brien, Dr. Jane Warland, Dr. Alex Heazell, Dr. Ed Mitchell, Dr. Tomasina Stacey, Dr. James McGregor, and Dr. Jason Collins.  The discussion was lively and very educational.  Even better, at the end of the presentations, everyone worked together to discuss ways to work together and identify new projects needed.

One of the outcomes discussed was the publication of the presentations from the Summit.  Dr. Mitchell and Dr. Heazell took a leadership role and each researcher wrote a summary of their presentation.  The combination of these efforts was a summary of the Proceedings of the Stillbirth Summit 2011.  We are thrilled to announce that this article was just published!

It is so important to have these topics and this information in the medical literature to help the cause of stillbirth prevention.  Please take a moment to read the article, share it with your friends, and share it with your health care providers.  Every little bit learned is one step closer to being able to prevent many, many stillbirths.

I am extremely grateful for the researchers who participated so eagerly and the many, many volunteers who helped make this event a reality.  We are looking forward to the next Stillbirth Summit – in 2014!  But for now, we take a moment to savor this accomplishment and say thank you to the researchers for sharing their findings with the world.

Click here to read the Proceedings of the Stillbirth Summit 2011

as published in

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About the author:

Lindsey Wimmer, a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner, is Mom to four children; Garrett, stillborn in 2004, Grant, Bennett and Austyn. Lindsey is an adjunct instructor of pediatrics at the St. Catherine University in St. Paul, MN and also teaches pediatric and obstetrical nursing  at Hennepin Technical College in Eden Prairie, MN.   Lindsey and her husband Trent founded the Star Legacy Foundation shortly after Garrett’s birth when realizing that the numbers of stillbirths in the US were staggering and that very little was being done to determine the causes or find prevention initiatives. Visit the Star Legacy Foundation to learn more.

One Comment

Sherokee Ilse

Yes this was a MOST AMAZING event. The first time that researchers, parents, and perinatal loss professionals spent so much time presenting, sharing, and listening to each other with an openness that brought many ah-ha moments for everyone in the room. For instance, when we asked how many moms felt frenetic movements just prior to when their babies died – and almost every mother of a stillborn child stood up. Or when some researchers agreed to add things to their research like- timing of the death (many seem to die during the night), frenetic movement, sleep, cord and placenta issues etc . It also brought promises to keep talking and to dream about further collaboration with parent groups and researchers working together to create an internet study to better understand stillbirth…There are things in the works.

But for now, Lindsey is right to suggest we celebrate this HUGE accomplishment of having the proceedings published. Please take time to read about what the researchers taught us and what we know so far. It is possible that awareness of this information could shed light on even one baby’s death or even prevent another baby from dying. And that makes the whole Stillbirth Summit worth it!!!!

Thanks to Star Legacy for taking up the charge, believing, and working so incredibly hard to accomplish so much!

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