WYOMING — The Wyoming Department of Health (WDH) has announced a partnership with Count the Kicks, an evidence-based stillbirth prevention program, in order to help prevent stillbirth by educating expectant parents in how to monitor baby movement during the third trimester.
According to Count the Kicks, a baby’s movements are an important sign of their well-being in the third trimester. WDH research has found that approximately 30% of stillbirths can be prevented by parents incorporating a simple system to monitor their baby’s movement patterns once a day, starting at 28 weeks.
“We know a change in a baby’s movements in the third trimester can sometimes be an early red flag,” WDH Women and Infant Health Program Manager Kelly Belz said.
Expectant parents can get to know what’s normal movement for their baby using Count the Kicks’ free pregnancy app. Count the Kicks’ counting charts can also be downloaded at CountTheKicks.org and Wyoming residents can request a kick-counting bracelet from their local public health office.
“After a few days of using Count the Kicks resources, expectant parents can begin to see patterns such as the normal amount of time it takes their baby to get to 10 movements,” Belz said. “If their baby’s ‘normal’ changes during the third trimester, this could be a sign of potential problems. We would recommend reaching out to their pregnancy healthcare provider.”
Stillbirth is commonly defined as the loss of a baby at or past 20 weeks gestation. Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention approximates one out of 162 pregnancies ends in stillbirth for Wyoming mothers, with more than 21,000 families affected across the country each year.
