Presenter: Susannah Leisher, PhD & Stacey Fletcher
Date: 10/10/25
Brief Description:
Keywords/Main Subjects: Introductions
Copyright: copyright Susannah Leisher & Stacey Fletcher ©2025
Susannah (Zan) Hopkins Leisher is a stillbirth epidemiologist and parent to Wilder Daniel, stillborn at 38½ weeks on July 13, 1999, with no cause found. Her stillbirth research interests include structural racism and epigenetic mechanisms of effect. Dr Leisher is working to launch the first Stillbirth Center of Excellence in the United States. She is an honorary research fellow of the Stillbirth Centre for Research Excellence at the University of Queensland, Australia; ex-officio chair of the International Stillbirth Alliance; co-chair of the Stillbirth Advocacy Working Group; and a member of the Steering Committee of AlignMNH, the MFMU Network’s Community Engagement Board, and the WHO/UNICEF’s Every Woman Every Newborn Everywhere Management Team. Prior to becoming an epidemiologist, Dr Leisher was a Peace Corps volunteer in Nepal and then spent over 20 years working on global poverty and social justice in Asia, Africa and Central America, including ten years in Vietnam.
Stacey Fletcher is the Program Manager for Parent Voice at the Utah Stillbirth Center of Excellence (USCOE). As a clinical trainer and peer support specialist for the Utah Pregnancy After Loss (UPAL) Program, Stacey’s position ensures that parent experience plays a key role in developing excellent physical and mental health care. She is honored to share her lived experience of deep grief and also extensive rebuilding following the stillbirth of her son Benjamin 18 years ago. Stacey advocates for and participates in stillbirth research, equitable bereavement care, and community awareness. She has presented her perspective nationally and globally, promoting the important role of parents in stillbirth prevention and sensitive clinical care. She has spent many tender hours with families in hospital rooms, mortuaries, and homes. She is a storyteller. She has worked professionally as a writer, editor, educator, and publisher and is passionate about giving voice to others. Stacey and her husband Bryan are the parents of five living children. Together their family advocates against the racism and disparities often found in underserved and marginalized communities.
