Julianna Grace Ministry aims to help women who have lost babies

SHREVEPORT, La. (KSLA) - According to the CDC , stillbirth affects about 1 in 175 births. Each year, about 21,000 babies are stillborn.

An area support group hopes to reduce that number by advocating for more education and awareness surrounding stillbirths.

Julianna Grace Ministry was created out of grief after Lisa Rowell lost her daughter at 23 weeks gestation in 2013. Since then, she has dedicated herself to helping those who have lost a child. She creates baskets of hope that are packed with helpful informative books and stuffed animals and gives them to individuals who have lost children.

Rowell recently helped pass the Maternal and Child Stillbirth Prevention Act on June 17, 2024. It awaits final signature from the president. The bill recognizes that stillbirth requires further prevention programming.

Rowell also has helped pass a Louisiana bill in 2022, which gives families a $2,000 credit for stillborn children. She hopes that advocating for both awareness and change will help current and future parents.

"It's time for us women to take health in our own hands. We want to empower women to let them know that 'hey, when we feel something is wrong that is a God given feeling that needs to be paid attention to,'" Rowell explained. "Measuring the placenta, we found out that if the placenta isn't growing at a proper rate the way the baby is growing, that is a huge red flag. There is a lot of information that we know that we have gathered from countries like Australia and Europe that we just want to implement here in America."

Go here for more information about Julianna Grace Ministry and Rowell's work.