Neb. bill would create birth certificate for stillborns

OMAHA, Neb.—At her 37-week checkup, all was fine with Patricia Hill's pregnancy. But three days later, the baby boy she was carrying was dead and doctors had to induce labor so she could deliver his body.

"It was a beautiful birth," said Hill, a slight crack in her voice. "It was exactly what I wanted except for that one crucial part -- my son had died."

Hill, who gave birth to her stillborn son, Myles, on Nov. 24, would later learn there was something else missing: a birth certificate. Instead, she got a death certificate.

Now, the 27-year-old Lincoln woman is championing state legislation that would create a birth certificate for stillbirth. If approved, parents of babies who die in the womb after 20 weeks gestation may request a special birth certificate in addition to the death certificate.

Hill said, "It's only fair that these births are recognized. His birth was everything to me."

About 25,000 pregnancies result in stillbirth in the U.S. each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The cause is often unknown, but could be attributed to birth defects, problems with the placenta or umbilical cord, or the mother's health.

Twenty-one states have laws that provide certificates of birth resulting in stillbirth, and another 12 have laws that allow certificates of stillbirth. In addition to Nebraska, legislation is pending in six other states: Alaska, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma and Pennsylvania.

The Nebraska bill (LB1048), by Sen. Danielle Nantkes of Lincoln, was given first-round approval by the Legislature on Thursday.

Brandy Richardson of Omaha has a certificate of birth resulting in stillbirth for her son, Carter, who was born still at 35 weeks because of a heart defect. Her family was living in Arizona at the time, one of the states that issues the certificates.

"It really means the world to me that I have one," said the 29-year-old, who's been urging state lawmakers to pass Nantkes' bill. "When I found out Nebraska didn't offer one, I was really surprised by that. It upset me."

The state Department of Health and Human Services reported 147 fetal deaths in 2005, the last year data was available. That figures may include deaths before 20 weeks gestation, although state law only requires death certificates for fetal deaths after 20 weeks.

On average, five death certificates are issued each year, a department spokesman said.

A death certificate "validates the experience, but not in a positive way," said Dr. Janet Jaffe of the Center for Reproductive Psychology in San Diego, Calif.

Jaffe said parents who've suffered a stillbirth have already bonded with their child and often get to hold the baby after delivery.

"It's a real experience for them," she said.

Joanne Cacciatore of Peoria, Ariz., helped to get the first state law granting a birth certificate for stillbirth passed in Arizona in 2001. She said the birthing process is the same whether the child is born alive or dead.

"How can you die if you never existed?" she asked.

In 1994, Cacciatore was pregnant with her fourth daughter, who died 15 minutes before birth on her scheduled due date. She tried to get a birth certificate for her daughter's baby book, but a worker in the vital records office told her that wasn't possible.

"She told me I didn't have a baby," Cacciatore said.

Years later she founded The Miss Foundation, a nonprofit that provides support to families who've lost a child of any age and advocates for laws supporting those families.

"The effects of this do not go away," said Cacciatore, who earned a doctorate in human sciences from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. "They are lifelong and traumatic, and women often suffer in silence.

"What we're doing here is providing a small piece of comfort."

Not everyone sees it that way.

Last year, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson vetoed a bill similar to the one being considered by Nebraska lawmakers. He said such a law would have caused confusion because the state already issues documentation for stillbirth -- a certificate of fetal death.

Richardson had faced pressure to veto the bill from Planned Parenthood of New Mexico and other critics who said it might undermine abortion rights.

Kim Gandy, president of the National Organization for Women, said last week that she's sympathetic to parents who've lost an unborn child and understands their need for a birth certificate -- as long as it doesn't affect others' rights to have an abortion.

She also said it's important to recognize that stillbirth certificates are not certificates of live birth.

A spokesperson for the national Planned Parenthood organization said that "stillborn certificates that are optional, commemorative and medically accurate can be a symbolic way to acknowledge the loss of a wanted pregnancy."

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On the Net:

Nebraska Legislature: http://nebraskalegislature.gov/

Center for Reproductive Psychology: http://www.reproductivepsych.org/

The MISS Foundation: http://www.missfoundation.org/