October has two significant awareness topics recognized this month that directly impact the families that childbirth educators and other perinatal professions support.

Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month is observed during the month of October in the United States and in many other parts of the world. One in four pregnancies end in loss, one in 160 pregnancies that reach 20 weeks or beyond end in loss and 1 baby is born still at term for every 1000 live births.  Approximately 5 babies die in their first year (infant mortality) for every 1000 live births in the United States.  People of the Global Majority (BIPOC) are disproportionately impacted.

October is also Domestic Violence Awareness Month. 1 in 4 women and 1 in 7 men will experience intimate partner violence in their lifetime and this rate increases during pregnancy. Rates are highest when a pregnancy is unintended.

A childbirth educator cannot look out onto the faces of those people in their classroom and identify which families have experienced pregnancy loss, who will be impacted by stillbirth or infant loss and who is or has been a victim of intimate partner violence.  For these reasons, it is important to include information in each and every class, for every single person, on both of these topics.

Here are five resources on each topic to include in the resources that you share with the families in your classes.

Domestic Violence

• National Coalition Against Domestic Violence - Get Help
• The National Domestic Violence Hotline
• Futures Without Violence: The National Health Resource Center on Domestic Violence 
• INCITE! Women of Color Against Violence 
• National Center on Domestic Violence, Trauma & Mental Health

Pregnancy Loss & Infant Death

• Star Legacy Foundation
• Postpartum Support International - Loss & Grief in Pregnancy & Postpartum
• March of Dimes
• Return to Zero
• The Tears Foundation - Financial Support for Funeral and Cremation Services

If you are not already sharing resources and information with families, there is no better time than now to start. If you already include this information in the class materials you distribute, October is the perfect time to update that information, check links and make revisions so that you can best support the families you work with. Many people do not share their experiences with both loss and intimate partner violence with anyone. It is our responsibility to make sure that they do not feel alone and have access to information and resources for support and help.

References

Ely DM, Driscoll AK. Infant mortality in the United States, 2019: Data from the period linked birth/infant death file. National Vital Statistics Reports; vol 70 no 14. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. 2021. DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.15620/cdc:111053.

Gregory ECW, Valenzuela CP, Hoyert DL. Fetal mortality: United States, 2020. National Vital Statistics Reports; vol 71 no 4. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. 2022

Smith, S. G., Zhang, X., Basile, K. C., Merrick, M. T., Wang, J., Kresnow, M., & Chen, J. (2018). The National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey: 2015 data brief – updated release. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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