History of WiSSP |
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History of WiSSP |
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| The Wisconsin Stillbirth Service Program (WiSSP) was developed to provide families and health professionals of Wisconsin with comprehensive services for the evaluation of stillborn infants. Lack of such a program left few stillborns adequately assessed, thus leaving medical providers and counselors at a loss to answer grieving parents' most consuming questions, "Why did this happen?" and "Will this happen again?" It was in this context that WiSSP was established. Since 1983, WiSSP has provided a statewide service to families and the medical care providers who help them. By educating personnel of birth hospitals of the need for thorough stillbirth assessment and generating specific protocols for this etiologic investigation, WiSSP has attempted to overcome obstacles which have impeded adequate assessments of stillborns in the past. WiSSP is unique in its model as it is community-based and University-supported. Community birthing hospitals carry out all evaluations of stillborn infants and WiSSP provides diagnostic interpretation of the generated data. Since its inception, WiSSP has been directed by Richard M. Pauli, MD, PhD, a nationally recognized expert in stillbirth assessment and related fields. His commitment to WiSSP is both professional and personal, as he is also the father of Zachary Abraham, stillborn June 4, 1979. WiSSP is now affiliated with over seventy hospitals statewide. There is high compliance with recommended protocols, and through WiSSP's efforts, over 1600 infants have been referred for interpretation of diagnostic evaluation. Of all stillborns, 40% or more are found to have a specific cause for their death. In nearly 25% of all stillbirths, birth defects or other fetal processes are causal. These data confirm that assessments of stillborn infants is useful and often will provide parents with information that may help them in their time of grief. WiSSP's activities have expanded since its beginnings. WiSSP maintains a resource library pertaining to parental bereavement, and disseminates a quarterly newsletter, WiSSPers , for health professionals. With establishment of this website WiSSP can now share with a larger audience the contributions it has made to the service of parents who experience stillbirth and the professionals who care for them. |