H.R. 5469: SHINE for Autumn Act of 2025

The bill's full name is the Stillbirth Health Improvement and Education for Autumn Act — named for a child who was stillborn. Its premise is narrow: the country can't study what it doesn't measure. Stillbirth records vary widely from state to state, which makes it hard for researchers to spot patterns or pin down risk factors at a national scale.

To close that gap, the bill lets HHS give grants to states to do the actual data work — running stillbirth surveillance, building local public-health capacity to analyze it, and tracking risk factors and the measurable outcomes tied to them. States could draw on records they already keep, like fetal and infant mortality reviews, rather than starting from scratch. Every grant carries a condition: the data has to be stripped of anything that could identify a patient or their doctor.

The second piece is national consistency. HHS would issue guidelines telling state health departments and vital-records offices how to collect stillbirth information — including, only with the mother's consent, clinical history, autopsy findings, and placental pathology — and how to train staff so records are complete and comparable. HHS would also build public education materials and consult doctors, nurses, statisticians, bereavement groups, and parents who have lived through a stillbirth.

What the bill does not do is create any new treatment, coverage, or benefit. It funds records, standards, and awareness — not care. Within five years of enactment, HHS would have to publish a public report pulling together the guidelines and educational materials. The payoff, if there is one, is slow by design: better records first, better research later, and clearer answers for families only over time.