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Dr. Kim Mulvihill ReportingFew couples expecting a baby expect a stillbirth, but one in 150 births result in this kind of fetal death.
Heather and David Brame of San Francisco are tickled pink over their new baby boy.
David Brame: "I think this little man's the most loved baby in the world right now."
But pregnancy doesn't always have a happy ending. For many couples, the much anticipated event, the birth of the baby, turns into a devastating loss, a stillbirth. And in most cases, the cause is never known.
David Brame, Father: "I saw that heartbeat, the baby's heartbeat wasn't, wasn't going."
Heather Brame, Mother: "Oh no, this just seems like something's wrong."
David Brame: "The doctor said that we lost her, that she was stillborn."
The Brame's first baby, Donnalee, died in utero. She was full-term. Heather then had to give birth.
Heather Brame: "I delivered her, we delivered her. And she was beautiful, she looked asleep."
Each year, tens of thousands of Americans suffer similar nightmares.
San Francisco Chronicle reporter Suzanne Pullen was 24 weeks pregnant when her son Avery died. Then she gave birth.
Suzanne Pullen: "Giving birth to death puts you in a completely different category, and people really don't know how to deal with that."
But these men and women are learning, in a group called "Support After Neonatal Death" or "SAND" for short.
Betty Simpson, LCSW, Suffered Stillbirth: "It's devastating, it's just abut the most devastating thing you can go through. You just don't imagine losing your child."
Betty Simpson leads the SAND group at Alta Bates Medical Center. 22 years ago Betty had a still birth. It still brings tears to her eyes.
Betty Simpson: "Absolutely, it stays with you. It's part of your life forever."
After walking on eggshells for nine months, Heather delivered her second baby.
Heather Brame: "I heard him cry, but my eyes were closed. I was afraid to open my eyes. I was afraid it wouldn't be true."
Because with a stillbirth, not only does a baby die, so does an innocence that never comes back.
