The Tennessee Department of Health is launching a maternal health campaign devoted to stillbirth prevention to provide expecting mothers and their families with education, information, and tools they can use to monitor their health, especially in the third trimester of pregnancies.
Among the common signs and symptoms expectant mothers may experience indicating a potential problem with a pregnancy are cramping, abdominal pain, fever, bleeding or spotting. The TDH campaign will focus on how a change in the timing of a baby’s normal movement is often the first, or only, indication to parents there could be an issue with the pregnancy.
TDH will launch the stillbirth prevention campaign in September encouraging expecting parents to download and use Count the Kicks, a free mobile app with online digital education materials and printable paper charts also available.
The Count the Kicks app will help expecting parents monitor and track their baby’s movements once-a-day from the start of the third trimester, or 28 weeks, of their pregnancies. Changes to the time it normally takes for their baby to get to 10 movements could indicate potential problems and mean expecting parents should contact their healthcare provider right away.
In 2021, there were 541 stillbirths in Tennessee. Approximately 32 percent of stillbirths occurred from 28 to 37 weeks gestation, and 16 percent occurred at more than 37 weeks gestation. It is estimated that one quarter of stillbirths are preventable.
