Staff Writer

“This is Noah’s legacy,” his father said. 

Noah Schuenke, who was born still, never had the chance to create a legacy, but Mark and Lindsay Schuenke of Biddeford hope to secure one for their son with the passage of LD 361, referred to as Noah’s Law.   

“Most kids have a lifetime to develop a legacy,” Mark Schuenke said.

The bill, sponsored by Sen. Nancy Sullivan (D-York County), creates a certificate of birth for a stillborn child that is prepared and filed in accordance with requirements for live births. Currently, Maine only issues birth certificates for live births. 

Supporters of the bill say the Certificate of Birth Resulting in Stillbirth is an optional vital record parents can request to recognize their baby’s birth separately from death. They also say it provides comfort and healing for grieving parents.

Mark and Lindsay Schuenke found out they were expecting their first baby in January 2008 and prepared by taking childbirth education classes and decorating a nursery. The pregnancy progressed normally with no complications and Lindsay Schuenke “loved having that connection with my baby.”

Labor began on Sept. 15 and the couple went to the birthing suites at Southern Maine Medical Center. When Lindsay Schuenke was examined, the couple received devastating news: the baby had no heartbeat. The umbilical cord prolapsed, slipping into the birth canal ahead of the baby and cutting off oxygen and blood flow. 

The baby would be born still. 

“I had 30 minutes to get used to this idea my baby wasn’t coming home with me,” Lindsay Schuenke said. “I was in active labor so it was hard for me to process.”

Noah Schuenke was born at 5:47 a.m. on Sept. 16, 2008. 

“We had this whole day ahead of us that was completely opposite of how we expected,” Lindsay Schuenke said.

Instead, they were faced with the terrible thing that happened – a “freak accident” no one could have prevented, the Schuenkes said.

Throughout that day they cradled Noah, examined his red hair and perfect face, dressed him and waited for Lindsay’s parents to arrive from Ohio. They also had family portraits taken by Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep, an organization that, at the request of parents, photographs babies born still.

The Schuenkes said they have “beautiful memories” of those few hours with Noah. 

“We were able to count all his fingers and toes and see how perfect he was, but we knew that was the only time we’d spend with him physically,” Mark Schuenke said. “I’m so glad we held him.” 

“He was perfect. It’s indescribable to have this perfect baby where everything is great except he’s not breathing,” Lindsay Schuenke said. “We were so close. It was hard. I’d had so many hopes and dreams of the time I was going to spend with my baby.”

But in those hours Mark and Lindsay Schuenke had to make decisions they never imagined they would: Would there be an autopsy? Would Noah be buried or cremated? Would there be a memorial service?    

Lindsay Schuenke also decided to donate her breast milk to a mother in Portland who was unable to nurse her own baby and to a milk bank in Ohio.

“Your body doesn’t know the baby had died. It was so devastating to think my milk was coming in and I had no baby,” she said. “It was Noah’s gift to other babies.”

Noah’s name was used for the first time on his death certificate. Mark Schuenke said he was infuriated to discover his child would not be issued an official birth certificate. It amounts to denying the existence of a child, he said. 

“We want recognition that Lindsay carried this child and gave birth,” he said. 

“It’s a small comfort, but it’s still a comfort,” Lindsay Schuenke said. “That recognition of a child is huge. Sometimes we need that reminder.”

Katherine O’Connor, a registered nurse and lactation consultant at SMMC, has been working with the Schuenkes and Sullivan to garner support for the bill. 

“One of the hardest things about being a maternity nurse is watching the parents grieve so deeply for their baby, a baby that no one else knew. This is only made worse by the fact that the birth of the baby goes unrecognized,” she said. “This bill will make it possible to officially recognize the births of these babies, which can be a step toward bringing comfort and healing for grieving parents.”

Currently, SMMC gives parents of stillborn babies a complimentary birth certificate. Rebecca Sevigny, a certified childbirth educator at SMMC, said that certificate is not a vital record and it fails to officially validate the birth.

“It’s just a piece of paper to put in a baby book,” she said. “The [bill] is to really validate these children were born.”

Supporters of Noah’s Law say the need for a birth certificate has become more visible as the stigma of having a stillbirth dissipates. O’Connor said stillborn babies were often denied recognition by family, friends and the medical community until fairly recently.

Between 25,000 and 30,000 babies are stillborn in the United States each year. Most occur at or near full term to otherwise apparently healthy babies, she said.

Maine is one of six states with stillbirth certificate bills pending. Similar laws have been passed in 25 other states, O’Connor said.     

As Mark and Lindsay Schuenke watch the bill make its way through the legislative process, they said they are optimistic their efforts will spare other grieving families the pain and frustration of not receiving a birth certificate. 

“It will spare this hardship they’re dealing with,” Mark Schuenke said. “It’s going to remove a small piece of the hardship for people who go through this and allow people to have actual recognition of birth. Until you go through something like this, you don’t think about it.”

“It’s hard to imagine the future sometimes. Noah is going to have a unique place in our life and the world,” Lindsay Schuenke said. “For me it’s comforting to know he will have an impact. I love him so much and still love him so much I want to remember him. More than that, I want him to have an impact.”

Despite the grief they have endured, the Schuenkes said they have hope their future will include more children.

“We’re very hopeful for the future, we’re hopeful we’ll have another baby,” Lindsay Schuenke said. “We have a lot of hope we will open up the door to the nursery soon and be able to use it.”