New blogs submitted

A warm welcome to the following bloggers

A Baby Named Nathan*
Send Me A Lifeboat*
Faith, Hope and Loving Audrey
Isaac's Journey*
Whispers to my Butterfly*
Surviving Without My Little Man*

New blogs submitted

A warm welcome to the following bloggers:

Holding on 'Cause I Can't Let Go
Footprints On Our Hearts
The Parker's Paradise*
Loving Cora Rei*
Hope after Miscarriage
Life, Love & Persuit of Our Fairytale
Gott Joy!*
A Dragonfly's Embrace
Our Lives Forever Changed

We have a backlog going back to November, so once again apologies for the time it takes to get through all the new blogs submitted.

The Schuyler Blanket Project

The Schuyler Blanket Project started on Ravelry (a knitting and crochet website) this summer when Tammany lost her beautiful baby daughter Schuyler Brynne. Many knitters and crocheters on the website got together and each made a square for a blanket for Tammany, in memory of Schuyler. Tammany knew that this lovely effort would bring comfort to other bereaved parents as well, and thus the Schuyler Blanket Project was born.

Quite a few blankets have already been made and delivered to grieving parents. Typically the squares are 8x8 inches, made of any washable fiber in any colors you would prefer. There are hints and suggestions on the project blog.

The link above and on the sidebar here is to the project blog, though most of the work is currently coordinated through a group on Ravelry. Rav is currently by membership only, though membership is free -- you just have to sign up. If you are interested in the fiber arts and not yet a member there, I suggest you sign up as it is a real treat.

Welcome to the following bloggers

A warm welcome to the following bloggers:

b-loss-om
How I Really Feel*
Hopeful Heart*
Too Beautiful For Earth*
Living By Faith
Cradles and Graves*
My Healing Heart*
Stay at Home Mommy Daze*
Ella's Halo

Premature Births Are Fueling Higher Rates of Infant Mortality in U.S

Premature Births Are Fueling Higher Rates of Infant Mortality in U.S., Report Says
By DENISE GRADY
Published: November 3, 2009

High rates of premature birth are the main reason the United States has higher infant mortality than do many other rich countries, government researchers reported Tuesday in their first detailed analysis of a longstanding problem.

In Sweden, for instance, 6.3 percent of births were premature, compared with 12.4 percent in the United States in 2005, the latest year for which international rankings are available. Infant mortality also differed markedly: for every 1,000 births in the United States, 6.9 infants died before they turned 1, compared with 2.4 in Sweden. Twenty-nine other countries also had lower rates.

If the United States could match Sweden’s prematurity rate, the new report said, “nearly 8,000 infant deaths would be averted each year, and the U.S. infant mortality rate would be one-third lower.”

The first author of the report, Marian F. MacDorman, a statistician at the National Center for Health Statistics, said in an interview that the strong role prematurity played came as a surprise to her. More

New Blogs Recently Submitted

A warm welcome to the following Bloggers:

• Minnesota Mom Thinking
• not rated PG
• Thumpin' Along
• A Sucker for Gerberas
• Tiny Big Feet
• Not Sure What To Do
• Heather Mohr's Blog
• Butterflies and Kittens
• This is My Pace
• praying for our chance at a miracle
• Through the Eyes of Loss
• attempting to love life without her
• ForeverElliotsMommy
• zen milk
• Teddy Bear Tins
• Team Burkey
• Lightning Strikes Twice

Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day

Today is Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day

Light a candle at 7pm in all timezones to create a continuous wave of light across the world.

See www.october15th.com for more information.

New Blogs Recently Submitted

A warm welcome to the following Bloggers:

• Almost a Mother
• Love, Loss and Hope
• Fertilityhope
• The Martin Family
• From Mourning to Mission
• The Joy of the Lord is My Strength
• So What Now?
• The Blue Sparrow
• Jasper, Forever Our First
• Born Still, Still Loved
• Two of a Kind Workin' On A Full House
• Pregnancy After Miscarriage
• STILL
• Tiny Angels
• Gerardo Orellana III
• The Biggest Loss
• The Root of All Evel
• Our Bumpy Ride

This clears our summer backlog. If you have submitted your blog and it doesn't yet appear, please email again.

New Blogs Recently Submitted

A warm welcome to the following Bloggers:

• Missing Moira Mae
• Life is a Funny Thing
• Living in the Rainbow
• Vegan in the Country
• Jordan Memories
• Handprints from Heaven
• Sweet Joshua
• The Truth About Unicorns
• Letting Go and Letting God
• Raising Arrows
• Once A Mother...
• Expectant Hearts
• Too Beautiful For This Earth
• eye heart internet
• This One Time
• Living Without Sophia and Ellie
• Missing Mackenzie
• Soundwaves Perinatal Bereavement Support
• Looking For Blue Sky
• Life After Miscarriage
• Life Without Cameron
• The Road Ahead
• Every Life Has A Story
• Mommy of An Angel
• Robin's Eggs Over Easy
• Amy + Dave = 937
• An Angel in Texas
• Dear Brianna
• Life After Losing Luca

We still have a backlog of blogs to add. Your patience is appreciated.

New Blogs Recently Submitted

A warm welcome to the following Bloggers:

• Stepping Stones
• Moving On From Miscarriage
• Nert's Mommy's Blog
• Almost a Mother
• Mama Musings
• Letters To Noah
• Through My Mothers Eyes
• His Grace is Sufficient
• A Day In Our Life
• Elm City Dad
• the hunt for my fertility
• Moments of Pause
• Nine Months and Still Counting
• Desire of My Heart
• I Want To Be The Bluebird Singing
• Learning to Live Without Our Children
• Sooners5
• Sweet As Paradise
• The Unemployed Mom
• You Can't Get There From Here
• Lessons From Cooper and A New Little Soul
• God's Plan Not Mine
• Peace Like A River
• Smile Through The Storm
• Heartbroken
• Christian's Memory
• Crazy, It Surrounds Me
• Lola Constance Evelyn
• From My Point of View
• Waiting for Morning
• Triplet Butterfly Wings
• The Dead Baby Club
• Spilled Milk
• Mashed Potatoes
• Melissa's Life
• Ten Minute Dream
• Life After Leila
• The Milams
• My Forever Family
• How I Became Awesome
• Clara Jane Wells
• Remembering Our Triplet Angels
• Makenna Hope
• Our Miracle Twins After A Stillbirth
• Deep Roots
• In Memory of Jasper Thomas

This clears the backlog of emails to June 2009 only. We will continue to endeavor to catch up on emails through the course of the weekend.

Newly Introduced Legislation will Support Education and Prevention Efforts for Stillbirth, SIDS and other Sudden, Unexpected Infant Deaths (SUID)

Hi Everyone-

I am writing you to ask for you to take 5 minutes today to support a very important piece of stillbirth/SIDS legislation that was introduced into Congress yesterday. As you may know, I traveled to DC twice in the last two years to advocate for stillbirth legislation -- some of you supported me in making those trips (thank you!!!). As a result of a visit I made (along with three other mothers and a doctor from First Candle) with a staffer from Obama's office (before he was president), a piece of legislation was drafted by his office. He became President before it could get any traction, but he hand-delivered it to Sen. Lautenberg and asked him to take it on. That revised bill was finally introduced yesterday, along with a companion bill in the House.

On behalf of the hundreds of families I have written about over the last four years, and in remembrance of Avery, I ask you to contact your Congressional Representatives (a total of three emails and/or phone calls) to implore them to support the Stillbirth and SUID Prevention, Education and Awareness Act of 2009 and become co-sponsors. The bill would expand activities to identify the causes of stillbirth, identify ways to prevent it in the future and increase education and awareness about the issue among healthcare providers and parents. Below are links:-To find out the contact info of your Rep/Senators by typing in your zip code. -A fact sheet about the bills-A sample letter you can cut and paste in an email to make it simple. Including your own story is also helpful!

In order for this bill to have a chance at passing, we need as many co-sponsors as possible. That means getting support from all over the country, so I am also asking you to email this to anyone else you think can help and/or post this on your web/social networking site. You can also just post the link to First Candle www.firstcandle.org.

Please take 5 minutes to show your support for the bill right now...early support is key at getting momentum going.

Thank you for reading this...and for considering my request. I don't usually ask people to take political action and I sometimes feel uncomfortable when others ask me to do so, so I can understand if you would rather not get involved. But if you want to and don't have the time today, please consider doing it as soon as you can.

With deep gratitude, Suzanne


Newly Introduced Legislation will Support Education and Prevention Efforts for Stillbirth, SIDS and other Sudden, Unexpected Infant Deaths (SUID)

First Candle is pleased to announce that the Stillbirth and SUID Prevention, Education and Awareness Act of 2009 was filed July 14 by Senator Frank Lautenberg, D-NJ. A companion bill was filed in the House by Frank Pallone, Jr., D-NJ-6. This bill would improve the collection of critical data to determine the causes of stillbirth SIDS and SUID, increase education and awareness about how to prevent these tragedies in the future and expand support services for families who have experienced a stillbirth, SIDS or SUID loss.

Every year there are more than 25,000 stillbirths in the United States. For more than half these deaths there is no known cause, leaving parents with more questions than answers as to why the baby died. The bill would expand activities to identify the causes of stillbirth, identify ways to prevent it in the future and increase education and awareness about the issue among healthcare providers and parents. In addition, there are more than 4,600 sudden unexpected infant deaths each year (including SIDS) and 200 sudden unexpected deaths of children between the ages of one and four. This bill encourages states to complete scene investigations to better understand why these children died, establishes a national database to track these deaths and identify risk factors to prevent them in the future, supports more comprehensive reviews and creates a national public awareness campaign to educate parents and caregivers.

We hope you will join us in supporting this legislation.

Please help by contacting your representative in the House and two Senators within the next week, urging them to co-sponsor this important bill.

The more co-sponsors the bill gets, the more likely it is to pass quickly through the House and Senate.

Participating in First Candle’s letter-writing campaign is easy!

Visit www.house.gov to get contact information for the Congressman in your District. You will need your 9-digit zip code. If you do not know your 4 digit extension, you can get it at http://www.z2systems.com/nps//servlet/DisplayLink?orgId=fc&emailId=306112&linkId=2591&targetUrl=http://zip4.usps.com/zip4/welcome.jsp.
You will then be able link directly to your Representative’s website.

Visit www.senate.gov to get contact information for your states two Senators. Simply select your state from the drop down menu to connect to your Senators’ websites.

We encourage you to call your representatives directly, or set up an appointment to meet with them face-to-face. Writing a letter or sending an email can be effective as well. Emails can be sent directly through your representatives’ websites.

We have provided a Fact Sheet about the bill, as well as a sample letter to help guide you.
Whether you are writing a letter or speaking with your representatives directly, be sure to include your personal story.

First Candle would love to receive a copy of your letter or an email detailing your conversation with your representatives for our files.

Members of Congress rely on input from their constituents to help them better understand what issues are important to those they serve. Help give our babies a voice!

Please feel free to contact Laura Reno, 800.221.7437 or laura.reno@firstcandle.org with any questions you may have.

New blogs submitted

Oh my - it's been a long time since this directory was updated. Please bear with us whilst the backlog of emails is cleared.

A warm welcome to the following bloggers:

Happily Henninger
Angel Seashore
Grace Ola; Learning about grace, living life*
This Path I'm Walking
Twists of Fate
Maybe Baby*
Moving on from miscarriage

New blogs submitted

A warm welcome to the following bloggers:

Dancing Barefoot on Weathered Ground*
Caring for Carleigh*
In Memory of Johnny Giovanni*
Babymaking 101
The Ehrlich's (Our lives in a nutshell)*

and a new resource in Online Links:

Miscarriages*

New blogs submitted

A warm welcome to the following bloggers who recently submitted their blogs

My Yellow Brick Road Has Potholes*
Making Coyne
Still Serving HIM Through The Storm*
West Temple Life
2 Feet on Earth 1 in the Stars*

and the following resource has been added:

Noah's Rainbow: A Father's emotional journey from the death of his son to the birth of his daughter. By David Fleming

New Blogs Submitted

A warm welcome to the following bloggers, who have submitted their blogs in the past few months:

• Fumbling Towards Motherhood
• Beauty in the Breakdown
• The Sweet Pea Project
• The Peeks
• The Jeffery's
• Born Still but Still Born
• Mother of Angels
• Three Quarter Mom
• Remembering the Life
• Sample Infant Obituaries
• Forever Love
• Living with Loss
• With All My Heart
• Shanti Mama
• The Beauty of Sufficient Grace
• At Office, At Home, I'm Never Alone
• Missing Sydney
• So Close
• On Having Faith
• Still Life With Circles
• Dancing Barefoot on Weathered Ground
• Just Jones'en
• Missing Lukas
• The O'Brien Family
• After Iris
• Stick In My Belly
• My Miscarriage Story
• Our Baby Thomas
• The Baby Quest - Life After Losing My Baby
• The Music Of My Life
• Surviving the Storm
• Simply Mojar
• Demeter's Feet
• Anchored Hope After Losing a Baby
• Anchored Hope For Your Pregnancy
• Walking with God in a Broken World
• Memorial Jewellery
• Innana Journey
• So Far Away - Caden Max
• Daniel Wade Finn
• The Journey of Infertility
• My Baby Butterfly Ella
• klepsydra
• Forever for Rossiter
• Mandigirl Muses
• FREYJA IONE + KEES HENRY
• All The Little Ponies