MISS Foundation News Release - Stillbirth

babykick teams with MISS Foundation
promoting kick counting for the prevention of stillbirth

Manhattan Beach, Calif.—July 25, 2007--More than 40 years of research shows that an expectant mother's tracking of her baby's fetal movements is an excellent way of checking on her baby's well-being. Kick counting, the systematic recording and tracking of fetal movements, is easy to do and is recommended by the American Pregnancy Association (APA) and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG).

The MISS Foundation, an international organization that supports grieving families after a child's death and educates on infant death, prevention and awareness, supports the Pregnant Women Count campaign, which encourages kick counting as a means to reduce the risk of stillbirth. babykick, with their newly launched kickTrakTM, is proud to announce their partnership with the MISS Foundation to promote kick counting and the prevention of stillbirth. Both organizations share the goal of education and research leading to healthy pregnancies and fewer child deaths by supporting kick counting and the use of the kickTrak. The kickTrak enables moms-to-be to track and record their baby's movement pattern, keeps track of pregnancy progress and also times contractions when labor begins. A portion of the proceeds from kickTrak sales will be donated back to the MISS Foundation in support of advocacy programs and educations.

"The kickTrak smart kick counter is a small, hand-held device which helps ensure moms-to-be of the health of their pregnancy," says Diep Nguyen, MD, developer of the kickTrak. "Kick counting every day and using the kickTrak gives moms great peace of mind, knowing their baby is developing as expected."

kickTrak was developed based on scientific research emphasizing the kicks, jabs, rolls, twists, and turns felt by mothers are excellent indicators of their baby's well-being. Monitoring of fetal movements is not a full time task and both APA and ACOG recommend expectant mothers to note the time it takes for their baby to complete ten movements, at approximately the same time each day when the baby is usually most active. Although each baby is different, healthy babies should have ten movements within two hours. Most babies usually do so in much less than 30 minutes.

"In this time of increasing pre-term birth and increased managed care it is important to encourage mothers to become ever more engaged with the progress and health of their pregnancy, “ stated James C. Caillouette, M.D., F.A.C.O.G., F.A.C.S., The clinical professor emeritus from University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine went on to say, “babykick’s kickTrak is a proven methodology, and when used on a regular basis as suggested, will provide increased mother, baby and physician communication, which is beneficial for everyone. I am confident that kickTrak will become standard of care."

"The goal of kick counting is not to make moms anxious but to have it be a part of their daily prenatal care," says Dr. Nguyen. "Medical research supports the daily kick counting method as a simple, effective, harmless and reliable way to screen for fetal well-being to reduce the risk of stillbirth."

As soon as a woman knows of her pregnancy she can begin using kickTrak to track and count down her progress. After 24 weeks gestation she can begin her daily use of kickTrak to keep a reliable diary of her baby's movement, and then time contractions when labor begins. Noting significant changes in the baby's movement pattern empowers moms to promptly alert their doctors to potential problems. Early detection of problems allows for timely intervention and can potentially reduce the risk of stillbirth.

The baby kickTrak is available for purchase in the MISS Foundation store where a portion of all purchases benefits the MISS Foundation.