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It may come as a surprise to you that your baby's life-sustaining organ, the placenta, is NOT routinely measured throughout pregnancy. It's as if this necessary organ is just expected to continue growing appropriately & no one bothers to make sure. No wonder placenta related issues (including small placentas) are a common cause of stillbirth!

Fresh off the stage of the #bigPUSH2022 in Washington, D.C., where he proclaimed to bereaved parents "it is NOT the your fault", Dr. Harvey Kliman, Yale's World-Renowned MD, PhD, placenta expert is joining us to explain how the placenta can be measured with a simple ultrasound technique he & his father developed (there's even an instructional video & hand-out for providers on measuretheplacenta.org & an APP: Merwins EPV Calculator).

Today we welcome Dr. Harvey Kliman to the podcast. He graciously spends time with us diving into why his research is important to those who have experienced infertility, or pregnancy and infant loss, why it's not often not prioritized in the world of research and what he feels like are large barriers in our healthcare system today. Thank you to Dr. Kliman for coming to the podcast to share the data, science and research that gives loss families information, and at times, closure, when they otherwise had none. We are so thankful for your work in the world, Dr. Kliman.  If you have experienced pregnancy or infant loss and would like to contact Dr. Kliman and his team to investigate your case further, you can find more information here: https://medicine.yale.edu/obgyn/kliman/placenta/pregnancyloss/

More than 50 women have been prosecuted for child neglect or manslaughter in the United States since 1999 because they tested positive for drug use after a miscarriage or stillbirth. The medical community calls this approach harmful and counterproductive.

Vocal advocates and doctors say the future of stillbirth prevention lies in measuring the placenta. They're pushing for change.

Harvey Kliman, MD, PhD appears on NEWsy on July 23, 2022.

Chelsea Becker spent 16 months in a California jail awaiting a murder trial after her pregnancy ended in a stillbirth. "I was prepared to just stay at least for the next 15 years in prison," she told NPR. Becker's 2019 arrest drew national attention. With the backdrop of the Supreme Court blocking a Louisiana law that would shutter nearly all abortion clinics in that state, advocates warned that Becker's arrest would empower more prosecutions for pregnancy outcomes.

In October, the Stillbirth Health Improvement and Education (SHINE) for Autumn Act was introduced by Reps. Jaime Herrera Beutler, R-Wash., Lucille Roybal-Allard, D-Calif., Kathy Castor, D-Fla., and Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla. Passed in the House on Dec. 8, this bill has been introduced in the Senate by Cory Booker, D-N.J., and Marco Rubio, R-Fla. We commend the bipartisan advancement of this legislation to finally address the stillbirth crisis in our country.

The number of criminal charges brought against people for using drugs during their pregnancies is rising in Oklahoma; a trend doctors say is rooted in a misunderstanding of how drug use affects pregnancy.