The Central Iowa education and advocacy group Healthy Birth Day is celebrating the final passage of a bill to make more money available nationwide for stillbirth prevention.

Billions of dollars are distributed each year to state health departments through federal Title V grants that address maternal and child health issues – but the program does not specifically address stillbirth.

The Maternal and Child Health Stillbirth Prevention Act directs state health departments to use some funding on stillbirth prevention programs. U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson, an Iowa Republican, was one of the House leaders on the bill.

The U.S. Senate gave final passage to the bill Tuesday, sending it to President Joe Biden’s desk.

Healthy Birth Day said in a news release that stillbirth, which is the result of about 1 in every 175 pregnancies, is far more common than deaths from sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) and that as many as 25% of stillbirths might be preventable.

Healthy Birth Day is a Clive-based stillbirth prevention nonprofit seeking to improve birth outcomes through programming, advocacy and research.