Reducing Stillbirth: Count the Kicks Campaign

[CarGirl]

I just want to promote "Count The Kicks"

Please read this, if it helps one Mum not suffer the agony of stillbirth it's worth it

countthekicks.org.uk/

Thanks CarGirl and all the people who have been bumping this thread. My nephew was stillborn at term and my sister died at 10 days old so stillbirth and neonatal death are issues that are very close to my heart yet I wasn't aware of the campaign and and am currently too early in my pg to feel movement but will definitely be buying a bracelet and counting the kicks, thanks to this thread.

I am so sorry to all the posters who have lost their babies. It's absolutely heartbreaking just to read your posts so I can't begin to imagine what it must be like to be in your shoes. Thanks for sharing as your posts have enormous resonance and are incredibly effective in highlighting the issue.

Bump

I fully support this campaign. This is so unbelievably simple and could save many lives.

Thanks for bumping this. My nephew was stillborn at 37 weeks; as other people have said it is all too common. I really knew nothing about this with my first, but I'm pregnant again now (9 weeks) so crossing my fingers until the first difficult time is over; and I will certainly keep this in mind.

Very sorry to those who have lost their precious children.

And so pleased to read the two or three stories about how this technique has saved babies lives!

MNHQ any news yet?

Bump

Hello all. We've now put up a content page in our Pregnancy section all about monitoring your baby's movements

And we've linked to it in our list of "Pregnancy: useful stuff" down the side of all Pregnancy Talk pages.

Thanks, everyone, for the suggestion (and for your almost-superhuman patience).

Just seen the HQ update. Thanks so much for adding that

Excellent. Thank you.

And thank you Cargirl

Bumping

Bump

Boosting this back to the front page - every pregnant woman needs to read this thread, it's long hard going and upsetting, but you need to be aware.

Bump

I was looking to buy a count the kicks band and this thread came up so I'm adding and bouncing - hope that's ok.
At 37+6 with my first son I had reduced movements and went in for monitoring. Even the nurses thought everything was fine initially as they could hear the heartbeat - they gave me a cup of tea and left me on monitor for half an hour. However after that time baby still hadn't moved and they called in the consultant - he saw that the heartrate was too level and indicated distress. I ended up having an emcs and although my son was oxygen deprived, anaemic, had mild bruising to the brain and was in neontatal intensive care for 2 weeks he is actually healthy and pretty normal (5 years old now) whatever that is. He'd had a foeto-maternal haemmorrhage and bled through the placenta into my blood stream (so the loss was hidden).

I personally feel that home doplers are counter-productive in monitoring the health of your baby - as I said, even the midwives at hospital initially thought everything was well with my son because they could hear a heartbeat - it was only the detailed graph of the heart pattern (sorry i don't know the correct terms for these things) that showed he was bleeding to death.

Also, I only went to hospital because my mum phoned them and told them I was coming - I was upset by this stage but would probably have dithered for too long if left to my own devices. I was told by countless professionals that my son was extremely lucky to be alive and that the usual outcome in a hidden bleed like this was stillbirth.

My thoughts to all of you who were not so lucky and have suffered the terrible pain of losing your babies.

Sorry, also feel I have to add that I did everything possible to ensure a healthy pregnancy - all the healthy food, vitamins, am a non-smoker, non-drinking, non-drug using, no accidents etc. Oh and my second son was born at home in my birth pool 3 years after my emcs and I'm 9 weeks with number 3. Everything was fine with number 2 obviously. :-D

Bump

After spending the day worrying about stillbirth and how uninformed I was of it, I happened upon this thread (which seems to span over 12 months of posting) and wanted to recommend it to any other users of the board who haven't seen it yet. It's made me feel informed and empowered, at 30 weeks pregnant, and represents one of the things Mumsnet does best.

However, technical question re ordering a 'Count the Kicks' bracelet: I've just spent 20 minutes trying to buy one online but it doesn't seem possible without a paypal account. Has anyone found another sales point where I can just buy one with a debit/credit card? Sorry if I'm just being a bit rubbish...

BUMPING

Please read.

Read and getting a bracelet! We must still spread the word!

I'm so glad to read this thread and see some awareness being raised about stillbirth...

We lost our beautiful little man just 9 days ago on 19th December at 40+1 weeks. We won't get post Mortem results for some weeks yet, but I can say that we had an easy pregnancy with absolutely no sign that something would go wrong. We were checked that day and Ethan's heart beat was strong and I felt great. I went into labour that evening and we went to the hospital thinking all was progressing well, only to find our our son had passed away.

Stillbirth was something that had never even been mentioned to us, and in our ignorance we thought it was rare and hardly ever happened, certainly never expecting it could happen to us. There must be more awareness made about this, we would give anything to stop others going through the pain we're going through x

Oh Jenble xxx

Bumping - please read x

Still birth is my worst fear. A dear friend lost her little girl. She was full term. My friend was counting the kicks and knew they had stopped and went to the hospital. Unfortunately her little girl had Edwards Syndrome. The baby was never going to survive. Edwards Syndrome is usually picked up on scans in the early stages of pregnancy. It was incredibly traumatic for her and I will never forget the day she found out and the impact it had on me at the time. In some cases counting the kicks won't help save the baby... It's important... Because guilt is an important factor..when you lose a child, you question your actions. My heart goes out to anyone who has suffered loss in this way.

Bumping x

Jenble, I'm so sorry for your loss, I hope by now you have some answers.xxx