How to Use the Directory

Welcome to the Miscarriage, Stillbirth, and Infant Loss Directory. This blog is maintained by volunteers to act like a "telephone book" for blogs dealing with the loss of a baby. It is open to anyone who has ever lost a baby in any way - we do not discriminate by age of your baby or circumstance of your loss. If you think you belong here, then we think you belong here.

When you submit your blog, it is manually added to the list, so it may take some time for it to appear on the list. When you submit your information as requested below, it is easier to spot those emails that have been redirected into the spam mail.

Blogs are listed by category of loss. This is to help you find blogs that deal with circumstances that may be similar to yours. That being said, it can be a moving and healing experience to read the blogs of people who's loss is not similar to yours. You are welcome to read any of the blogs listed here.

Though there could be literally thousands of categories of loss, we have created 4 broad categories: before 20 weeks, after 20 weeks, after birth, and medical termination. Please note that most blogs dealing with extreme prematurity are listed in the "after birth" category even though the gestational age might suggest a different category.

As a warning to those feeling particularly fragile, many of the blogs listed here discuss living children or subsequent pregnancies. In the sidebar links, those blogs are usually marked with an asterisk(*). However, the circumstances of individual bloggers will change, and sometimes the listings do not get updated. It is possible to encounter pictures of living children or pregnant bellies on the blogs listed here.

We also have a list of resources (books), online links, and online publications that you may find useful. Scroll all the way to the bottom of the page to see the full listing of links.

We are so sorry the loss of a beloved child has brought you here. We hope that you will find some solace within the community that has gathered.
Please help us set up this resource for grieving families by:

Welcome

A. Submitting your blog information
(Email Subject: Please Add My Blog)
  • The link to your blog
  • The title of your blog
  • The topic of your blog (see sidebar - Personal Blogs)
  • If your blog discusses living children or subsequent pregnancy after loss

B. Submitting links to helpful web resources
(Email Subject: Please Add This Link)

C. Submitting titles of helpful reading materials or videos/films
(Email Subject: Please Add This Resource)

D. Adding a link to this site from your blog

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Thursday, August 30, 2007

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.

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