App hopes to help maternal health, birth outcomes in Kentucky

LEXINGTON, Ky. (FOX 56) — Feeling a baby’s kick is one of the most fascinating and beautiful parts of pregnancy. In your third trimester, those kicks are important to keep track of.

“A change in a baby’s movements in the third trimester are an urgent warning sign, or an early red flag, that something might be going wrong in pregnancy,” said Emily Price.

Price is the CEO of Healthy Birth Day, Inc., a non-profit aiming to prevent stillbirth through education, advocacy, and research.

‘Count the Kicks’ is one way they’re doing that.

Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Kentucky is partnering with the program.

‘Count the Kicks’ is an app that can be downloaded on both the iTunes App Store and Google Play Store and is available in more than 20 languages.

Once downloaded, users can go into it and tap the footprint icon every time they feel the baby move in their bellies.

“What we want expectant parents to do is, every day in the third trimester, have your daily kick-counting session. It’s where you get to know your baby’s normal movement patterns,” said Price. “The app is going to show you a graph of what your baby’s normal movement is.”

Price told FOX 56 that the app is saving lives.

Research gathered by Count the Kicks found that in Kentucky, 311 babies on average are lost to stillbirth. This app could reduce that number by one-third.

“We’ve now saved babies’ lives in 37 states and in seven countries,” said Price. “We know that if we could reduce Kentucky’s stillbirth rate by a third, like we’ve done in Iowa, that’s more than 100 babies’ lives that can be saved every single year in Kentucky.”

Price isn’t just urging expectant parents to take these steps just based on data; she knows firsthand how lifesaving monitoring your baby’s movements as they approach the end of pregnancy can be.

“This saved my son’s life, 15 years ago, actually… I was in very active, early preterm labor at 30 weeks along. And the only reason I knew I was in preterm labor is because his movements changed, and I spoke up and told my doctor,” she said.

Price told FOX 56 that Mother’s Day is an important day to spread the message to be in tune with your body during pregnancy and to not be afraid to speak up if something seems off.

“Our goal is, especially on this Mother’s Day, is to get even more stories like that where moms feel empowered to pay attention, to speak up if they notice a change, and help get their baby here safely,” she said.