Peter Schorsch
A mom from Valrico, Florida, credits ‘Count the Kicks’ with helping her daughter, Ashlyn, have a safe arrival. Count the Kicks is a stillbirth prevention program that has extended its reach in Florida through funding provided by Simply Healthcare Foundation to educate expectant parents on the importance of tracking fetal movement starting at 28 weeks of pregnancy.
Right after her 20-week sonogram, Amanda Corso was diagnosed with antibody C, which causes fetal anemia. She happened to see a post about Count the Kicks on Facebook earlier in her pregnancy and began using the Count the Kicks app in her third trimester.
Amanda was 37 weeks along in her pregnancy when she noticed that her daughters’ fetal movements deviated from her previous patterns.
“I enjoyed using the app and found that it was always pretty quick for Ashlyn to reach 10 movements,” said Amanda. “I was scheduled to deliver at 37 weeks by C-section, but the day before I was supposed to go in for my pre-op appointment, I noticed she wasn’t getting her 10 movements in as fast as she usually did.”
Research demonstrates that nearly 30% of stillbirths can be prevented when expectant mothers are educated on the importance of tracking their baby’s movements daily during their third trimester.
It was during her pre-op appointment for her C-section that Amanda relayed that it was taking longer than usual for baby Ashlyn to reach 10 movements. Her clinician decided to perform a non-stress test and give Amanda a steroid shot to ensure baby Ashlyn’s lungs would develop fully.
Baby Ashlyn’s heart rate continued to drop and based on the change in her normal movement patterns, Amanda’s clinician decided to go ahead and deliver baby Ashlyn.
After birth, baby Ashlyn was diagnosed with anemia and jaundice. She was released from the NICU 15 days later. Baby Ashlyn produced her own blood in utero to counteract her mother’s antibodies, so her anemia was not suspected earlier.
“It turns out that she always looked OK on the screens because she produced her own blood to counteract my antibodies,” said Amanda, Ashlyn’s mother. “A doctor in the NICU said that was the first time she had ever seen a baby do that in 30 years.”
Simply Healthcare Foundation is partnering with Count the Kicks, a program created by Healthy Birth Day, Inc., to expand stillbirth prevention resources throughout 23 Florida counties. This partnership will empower and equip 2,500 Florida families to track their baby’s fetal movements after 28 weeks of pregnancy to reduce the probability of a stillbirth. This partnership is an expansion of the Florida Department of Health’s ongoing collaboration with the Count the Kicks program since 2020, which gives maternal health care professionals an opportunity to order Count the Kicks educational materials.
Given that expectant parents may not have strong, easily accessible Wi-Fi/broadband internet connections or access to a smartphone, Simply’s investment will fund the distribution of Count the Kicks wristbands across 23 Florida counties. Wristbands offer a simple, manual alternative for expectant mothers to count fetal movements and accompanying educational materials to detail how to use the tracking tool effectively.
With the expansion of Count the Kicks in Florida, more babies — like baby Ashlyn — will have better chances at more positive birth outcomes.
“Simply Healthcare is pleased to be part of our Foundation’s partnership with Healthy Birth Day, Inc., the nonprofit organization that created the Count the Kicks program, to help Florida families have the best health outcomes possible for their babies while in utero and after their birth,” said Dana Gryniuk, plan president for Simply Healthcare Plans. “Tracking fetal movements during the third trimester is incredibly important, and we are grateful to come alongside the Count the Kicks program to get these resources into the hands of expectant parents across Florida.”
