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BLACK WOMEN’S HEALTH IMPERATIVE AND COUNT THE KICKS FORM PARTNERSHIP TO ADDRESS RACIAL DISPARITIES IN STILLBIRTH

WASHINGTON, DC — (February 14, 2019) — Healthy Birth Day, Inc. and Black Women’s Health Imperative are proud to announce a partnership to address racial disparities that exist in stillbirth with the goal of saving the lives of African American babies during the third trimester of pregnancy. Approximately 6,900 African American babies are lost to stillbirth each year in our country, according to the CDC. Black mothers are more than twice as likely to lose their babies to stillbirth than their white counterparts.

The evidence-based Count the Kicks public health campaign is credited with reducing Iowa’s stillbirth rate by nearly 29 percent while the rest of the United States has remained relatively stagnant. BWHI and Healthy Birth Day, Inc., the 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that created Count the Kicks, have partnered to share important educational information on pregnancy with the goal of improving birth outcomes for families of color across the U.S.

“We are excited about our partnership with Healthy Birth Day.  Now Black women across the country have a powerful tool to monitor their baby’s movements and take early action to ensure a healthy birth. We look forward to many thousands of healthy birth days each year,” said Linda Goler Blount, President and CEO of BWHI.

 

The free Count the Kicks app is one powerful tool that moms across the country are using to track their babies’ movements daily in the third trimester of pregnancy. Studies indicate keeping a daily record of a baby’s movement—including kicks, rolls, punches and jabs—is an easy, free, reliable way to monitor a baby’s well-being in addition to regular prenatal visits. After a few sessions on the free Count the Kicks app, parents will start to notice a normal movement pattern for their baby. Changes to that pattern can indicate potential issues with the pregnancy. Parents who notice a change should call their healthcare provider immediately.

The cutting-edge Count the Kicks app is available in 10 languages in Google Play and iTunes online stores. One in 167 pregnancies in the U.S. ends in stillbirth, according to the CDC. For African American women, the chances are much greater as 1 in 94 pregnancies will end in stillbirth. Our goal is to get to the point that race is no longer a predictor of stillbirth.

“This partnership has the potential to save lives. We are deeply grateful to Black Women’s Health Imperative for playing such an important and active role in improving birth outcomes in our country,” said Emily Price, Healthy Birth Day, Inc. Executive Director.

The new partnership includes opportunities for shared educational information across BWHI and HBD platforms, Count the Kicks trainings, and increased awareness of the important work of both organizations.

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For more information on maternal mortality and issues of Black women’s health visit www.bwhi.org.  For interviews, contact Andrea King Collier, acollier@bwhi.org or call 517-285-6890.

Learn more about the Count the Kicks campaign by visiting www.countthekicks.org. For interviews, contact Healthy Birth Day, Inc. Executive Director Emily Price at price.emily@healthybirthday.org or by calling 515.505.0319.