We are happy to bring you the Make Every Kick Count blog, updating you regularly on pregnancy health topics. Today’s post is about what we know best-- kick counting! Would you believe that Americans rarely address a devastating event that affects one US family every 20 minutes-- that's 70 American families a day and over four million families worldwide every year. While stillbirth is, without a doubt, a tragedy for every family that experiences it firsthand, there’s an even larger underlying issue. Stillbirth is the least talked-about pregnancy complication.
Sure, stillbirth isn’t a very pleasant topic for a casual discussion. But if we want to reduce the risk for families everywhere, we have to bring it into the light of day. That’s part of our mission at BabyKick—to end stillbirth’s reign as a hush-hush topic.
One way to reduce the risk of stillbirth and other pregnancy complications is by monitoring fetal movement. Fetal movement is one of the best indicators of a baby’s health before birth. In general, healthy babies will make ten movements within two hours. Most babies do so in less than 15 minutes. Kick counting is a simple, safe and effective method for monitoring fetal movement as recommended by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Moms can start counting fetal movements--kicks, jabs, rolls, twists and turns at 28 weeks, once a day, at about the same time when their baby is most active. Once the baseline is established, moms can have peace of mind about their baby's well being, and can inform their health care provider promptly if there is a significant change in his or her movements.
Unfortunately, not all pregnant women are aware of the importance of paying attention to how often their babies are moving and of the importance of decreased movement. The BabyKick Foundation was created to increase awareness of kick counting among moms-to-be and other health care providers. We hope to advance that mission through this blog.
Make Every Kick Count will, of course, provide current information on the movement advancing kick counting and share related resources. We also hope to be a resource for information about pregnancy health and safety in general. If kick counting has made a difference in your life, or if you've avoided a tragedy because of it, we’d love to hear from you! Any suggestions for what you’d like to see on Make Every Kick Count?
1 comment:
Thank you for including information on Group B Strep! Our website www.groupbstrepinternational.org also includes information as to how to help protect babies from GBS infection during pregnancy and early infancy.
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