Count the Kicks

Floor Speech

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Mr. NUNN of Iowa. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to talk about a silent crisis in the U.S. Stillbirths claim the lives of more than 21,000 babies every year.

After suffering devastating stillborn losses, 5 Iowa women took their grief and turned it into fuel; they wanted to keep other families from joining their club. So, they founded the nonprofit organization Healthy Birth Day, and along with the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services, they have since lowered Iowa's stillbirth rate by 32 percent. Based on scientific evidence, their Count the Kicks stillbirth prevention program educates expectant parents about the importance of tracking fetal movement in the third trimester of pregnancy.

With programs to educate and empower expectant parents with stillbirth prevention education, we can save thousands of babies from preventable stillbirth each year. The stillbirth crisis is URGENT and needs to be addressed, so I want to acknowledge the powerful work of these Iowans on a bi-partisan issue we should all get behind.

I want to also take a moment to recognize Brian and Mary Lohse and their daughter Genevieve, as well as Arizona Count the Kicks Ambassador, Shawn Soumilas, and her son Zach for their tireless work to prevent stillbirths.

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