Stillbirth Prevention in the New York Times

Yesterday's New York Times featured an article about recurrent stillbirth. As our country's least-talked about pregnancy complication, many Americans avoid the topic of stillbirth because it's not easy to discuss. The babykick Foundation is here to change that, and to provide parents-to-be with the necessary knowledge to have healthy pregnancies. We want to bring stillbirth to the forefront of health discussions and are glad to see that it's making national headlines.

Did you know that stillbirth results in the deaths of over 70 babies in the US every day? That's ten times as many as SIDS! Families of stillborn babies fall victim, too— few hospitals offer an autopsy, placental exam or clinical testing after a stillbirth to determine the cause of death. What’s even more shocking is that in 29 states, parents of a stillborn baby receive no recognition—the births are “invisible” without a birth certificate or other legal documentation.

Unfortunately, many of these tragedies are unexplained, but there are ways that pregnant women can help reduce their risk. A simple, safe and effective method that’s been shown to help prevent stillbirth is kick counting. 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, but decreased fetal movement is associated with stillbirth and other pregnancy complications. A Massachusetts Quality Improvement Study cited in Harvard’s Forum shows that the rate of stillbirth in pregnancies that were complicated with decreased fetal movement was four-fold above the general population.

The babykick Foundation provides parents with the necessary resources to understand kick counting, including free kick count charts.