Posted on May 23, 2007 by thestateofblog
“The experience of giving birth and death at the exact same time is something you don’t understand unless you’ve gone through it,” Ms. Edber said. “The day before I was released from the hospital, the doctor came in with the paperwork for a fetal death certificate, and said, ‘I’m sorry, but this is the only document you’ll receive.’ In my heart, it didn’t make sense. I was in labor. I pushed, I had stitches, my breast milk came in, just like any other mother. And we deserved more than a death certificate.”
So Ms. Edber joined with others who had experienced stillbirth to push California legislators to pass a bill allowing parents to receive a certificate of birth resulting in stillbirth.
To thousands of parents who have experienced stillbirth, getting a birth certificate is passionately important, albeit symbolic.
The State of . . . stillbirths. There are online petitions in support of this movement. Although symbolic, these certificates may help grieving mothers, could they be used for a different purpose? Some activists are pushing there legislators to make sure there is no language in the laws to restrict choice.
Filed under: Life
