By Gillian Graham

Staff Writer

With her husband by her side, she stepped to the podium and took a deep breath. 

A moment later, Lindsay Schuenke recounted the story of her son, Noah James Schuenke, who was born still on Sept. 16, 2008. With tears in her eyes, she shared her most devastating moments with members of the Health and Human Services Committee during a public hearing last week in Augusta on LD 361 – called Noah’s Law for her son.

The bill, sponsored by Sen. Nancy Sullivan (D-York County), creates a certificate of birth for a stillborn child that is prepared and filed with the existing requirements for live births. Currently, Maine only issues birth certificates for live births. 

Supporters of the bill say the Certificate of Birth Resulting in Stillbirth is an optional record parents could request to recognize their baby’s birth separately from death. They also say it provides comfort and healing for grieving parents. 

Lindsay Schuenke and her husband Mark, of Biddeford, found out they were pregnant with their first child on Jan. 18, 2008. She told committee members they were “thrilled” at the news and the pregnancy progressed normally. They found out they were having a boy and both enjoyed “getting to know our son as he moved around in my belly,” she said.

“By the time I went into labor nine days before my due date, we were ready. The nursery was decorated, the diapers were stacked, the car seat was installed, the little clothes were washed and organized,” she said. “Of course, this story doesn’t have a happy ending or else we wouldn’t be sitting here today.”

After beginning labor at home, Lindsay and Mark Schuenke headed to Southern Maine Medical Center in Biddeford. When they arrived, a nurse was unable to find the baby’s heartbeat using a fetal monitor. After more exams, a doctor finally told them their child would be born still. They found out later Noah’s umbilical cord slipped into the birth canal before his head, cutting off blood flow and oxygen as he descended.

“Our baby boy came into this world silently when just hours earlier he had been kicking his little legs as I breathed through the early contractions,” Lindsay Schuenke said. “I have no words to describe our emotions in the minutes and hours that followed. We had arrived at the hospital anticipating the happiest moment of our lives, and instead were faced with the most devastating.”

“We were just moments from being joyful parents, just moments from being ignorant to the fact that the parents of stillborn children are left with nothing but a death certificate,” Mark Schuenke said during his testimony. “As Lindsay told you, we arrived expecting to deliver a healthy baby and, within minutes, we were told there was no heartbeat. Less than an hour later, Lindsay delivered our baby. Then we were ushered off of the maternity ward to a recovery room. The two of us squeezed into one hospital bed and there we began life as the parents of a stillborn baby.”

Mark and Lindsay Schuenke found that life included decisions and phone calls they hadn’t imagined making. They had struggled throughout the pregnancy to settle on the perfect name, even joking they wouldn’t be able to leave the hospital without one, he said. 

“As it turned out, we were forced to settle on a name and we realized how much we loved the name Noah James all along. So much so, that we had a moment of deliberation as to whether we should give this name to our stillborn child or whether we should save it for a future, living son,” Mark Schuenke said. “Those thoughts were fleeting, as we quickly realized that this is our son who we love, and he is Noah. That realization was uplifting, but I was quickly snapped back to our sorrowful reality when I realized the first place I would have to write that name – on Noah’s death certificate.”

Lindsay Schuenke told committee members her experience is “surreal” and sometimes leaves her wondering if she is “truly a mother at all.”

“We hope and pray that the passage of this bill will bring some measure of peace and comfort to the parents of stillborn babies by recognizing the children they loved and nurtured, but to whom they had to say goodbye far too soon,” she said.

Mark and Lindsay Schuenke testified along with five other parents of stillborn children. Jessica Thomas and her husband Bartley Parker of Cumberland shared the story of their son, Augusten Thomas-Parker, who was born still Jan. 5 with his umbilical cord wrapped five times around his neck. 

“Having a birth certificate for Gus will not change the outcome of his disastrous birth. But we feel that we deserve to have a legal record of his arrival in this world, just as we have the death certificate that certifies his departure from it,” Parker said. “A certificate of birth resulting in stillbirth will not bring our son back, but it will recognize and validate our experience as parents.”

Dr. Dora Anne Mills, director of the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention, testified “neither for nor against” the bill. While she recognizes the “profound loss” of the parents, she said the department has concerns about the bill as written that could be addressed through compromises with proponents. 

Mills said it is “critical” to maintain the integrity of vital records collected by the CDC, including records of miscarriage, fetal death, birth, marriage, divorce, abortion and death. The department and its predecessors have collected and maintained records since 1882, she said. 

Mills said the bill should avoid creating a redundant vital record, since a fetal death certificate already exists under Maine law. The certificate covers the natural death of an unborn baby after 20 weeks gestation; an earlier loss is considered a miscarriage, she said. 

As written, the bill requires the certificate of birth resulting in stillbirth to comply with all requirements for birth certificates under current law. Mills said the bill conflicts with current statute because that section applies to live births. By definition, a stillborn baby is not the product of a live birth, she said. 

Mills also said the creation of an new vital record with the word “birth” in it and a name for the baby would lead to “a number of potentially damaging ramifications,” including confusion and identity theft. As written, the bill would require a fetal death certificate and a stillborn certificate, which could lead to confusion because the time of birth would be recorded as after the time of death, she said. 

Identity theft concerns come into play when a name is chosen and recorded for the stillborn child, Mills said. 

“Presumably the fetus will not be issued a Social Security number. But, the selection of a name for the stillborn child on a state vital record raises the possibility of identity theft,” she said.

Mills suggested the state create a “commemorative” certificate of birth resulting in stillbirth that would emanate from the fetal death certificate. The baby’s name should appear only on the certificate of birth resulting in stillbirth and the certificate should only be issued for naturally occurring fetal deaths, she said. 

The certificate should be available only to parents by request and obtainable through the Maine Department of Health and Human Services, Mills said. Under current Maine law, duplicate birth certificates are maintained in the municipality where the child was born and with the department. Issuing a certificate of birth resulting in stillbirth through the department would limit confusion and possible misuse, she said.

The Maine Choice Coalition – a nonpartisan coalition of more than 30 organizations dedicated to preserving the right to privacy in making reproductive choices – submitted written testimony to the committee. The testimony said the coalition expresses “full support for the needs of families facing the tragedy of stillbirth,” but urges the committee to be cautious and avoid threatening the rights of other families facing “other tragic circumstances” such as the end of a “very wanted” pregnancy in the second trimester for medical reasons. 

The coalition recommended the certificate is optional for parents and created based on information recorded in the fetal death certificate. The certificate should also state clearly the event it commemorates includes fetal demise and “cannot be a simple birth certificate.” The coalition also recommended the certificate is created only for naturally occurring intrauterine fetal death, according to the testimony.

After the hearing, supporters of the bill met briefly with Mills to address their concerns about her testimony and ask questions. Speaking for the other parents, Mark Schuenke told her they did not feel a “commemorative” certificate was what they were looking for. Mills agreed the department should issue an “official” certificate with the state seal.

In a work session late last week, committee members decided the certificate will not be a public record because live births in the state are not public record, according to Katherine O’Connor, a registered nurse and lactation consultant from SMMC who has worked on the bill. The committee also decided a $10 fee will be assessed, though those who can’t afford the fee will not be denied a certificate. 

The bill now has an emergency preamble attached to it. Acts and resolves of the Legislature do not take effect until 90 days after session adjournment unless enacted as emergencies. If passed, O’Connor said the bill will be signed into law by Gov. John Baldacci and take effect immediately.

If all goes according to supporters’ plans, the first certificate issued in June will be for Noah.

Staff Writer Gillian Graham can be reached at 282-4337, ext. 213.