Simply Healthcare and Count the Kicks Partner to Distribute Stillbirth Reduction Resources Across 23 Florida Counties

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Simply Healthcare Plans (Simply Healthcare) announced today its partnership with Count the Kicks to provide stillbirth prevention resources to expectant mothers throughout 23 Florida counties. These Count the Kicks resources aim to instruct and empower expectant mothers to track their baby’s movements daily beginning at 28 weeks of pregnancy.

 

“Simply Healthcare wants every baby and their mother to have a healthy birth day; therefore, we are proud to partner with Count the Kicks to equip expectant mothers with effective tools to track their babies’ fetal movements,” said Dana Gryniuk, President of Simply Healthcare. "Count the Kicks resources are saving lives, and we hope these additional resources will save many more lives here in Florida by improving birth outcomes and preventing stillbirths.”

 

Simply Healthcare’s partnership with Count the Kicks is an expansion of the Florida Department of Health’s (DOH) efforts to amplify stillbirth prevention resources throughout Florida. Since 2020, maternal healthcare professionals across Florida have been given access to Count the Kicks educational materials for free through the program’s partnership with DOH.

 

Through Simply Healthcare’s partnership with Count the Kicks, wristbands and educational materials are being distributed to 2,500 expectant mothers in Bay, Brevard, Broward, Collier, Duval, Escambia, Gadsden, Hillsborough, Lee, Leon, Manatee, Miami-Dade, Okaloosa, Orange, Osceola, Palm Beach, Pinellas, Polk, St. Lucie, Santa Rosa, Sarasota, Seminole and Volusia counties. The expansion has the potential to save nearly 500 babies.

 

Stillbirth (commonly defined as the loss of a baby at 20 weeks or greater during pregnancy) is a national public health crisis that impacts more than 21,000 families in the U.S. every year. For Florida families, one in every 14 pregnancies ends in stillbirth, and families in the state are 6.5 times more likely to lose a baby to stillbirth than to SIDS.

 

Recognizing that expectant mothers may not have strong, easily accessible Wi-Fi/broadband Internet connections or access to a smartphone, Count the Kicks wristbands offer a simple, manual alternative for expectant mothers to count fetal movements.

 

Are you an expectant mother? Learn how you can count kicks:

• Starting in the third trimester at 28 weeks (or 26 weeks if you are high risk or pregnant with multiples), begin counting.
• Count your baby’s movements every day – preferably at the same time.
• Time how long it takes your baby to get to 10 movements.
• After a few days, you will begin to see an average length of time it takes to get to 10 movements.
• Call your provider right away if you notice a change in strength or movements or how long it takes your baby to get to 10 movements.

“Count the Kicks is a powerful tool to help expectant parents be more in tune with their bodies and their babies,” said Emily Price, CEO for Healthy Birth Day, Inc., the nonprofit organization that created the Count the Kicks program. “We are grateful to be partnering with Simply Healthcare Plans to ensure parents and providers in Florida have the tools and resources they need to have an ongoing conversation about fetal movement throughout the third trimester.”

 

Research shows that nearly 30% of stillbirths can be prevented when expectant mothers are educated on the importance of tracking their baby’s movements daily during their third trimester. Simply Healthcare Plans and DOH hope to save nearly 500 babies each year through Florida’s Count the Kicks program.

 

Research shows the benefits of expectant moms tracking their baby’s movements daily and learning how long it normally takes their baby to get to 10 movements. If their baby’s “normal” changes during the third trimester, this could be a sign of potential problems and is an indication that the expectant mom should call her health care provider.

 

Count the Kicks also offers a free app available in the iOS and Google Play app stores that provides expectant moms a simple, non-invasive way to monitor their baby’s well-being every day. The Count the Kicks app is available in 16 languages, including English, Spanish and Haitian-Creole, and its features include a kick-counting history, daily reminders and the ability to count for single babies and twins. More than 3,600 expectant women in Florida downloaded the app in 2023 alone.

 

About Simply Healthcare Plans (Simply)

 

Simply is a Florida managed health care plan that currently serves approximately 800,000 members through Medicaid, Long-Term Care and Clear Health Alliance including children, people with disabilities, older adults, and people living with HIV/AIDS. Our goal is to provide health care and related services that are comprehensive, integrated and patient-centered. Our commitment to the community far exceeds supporting just the physical needs of our members. We make it a priority to support programs and initiatives that focus on whole person health.

About Count the Kicks

 

The Count the Kicks public health campaign is a project of Healthy Birth Day, Inc., a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to the prevention of stillbirth. Count the Kicks has a growing network of supportive doctors, nurses, hospitals and clinics in 25 states that give Count the Kicks materials to their patients. Count the Kicks has been featured on Good Morning America, The Washington Post, Sunday Night Football, and in O Magazine, and produced a national PSA that has generated more than 300 million viewer impressions. Count the Kicks has more than 110 stories from families around the country who have written in to share how they used Count the Kicks to help their baby have a healthy birth day. The free Count the Kicks app is available in 16 languages and has been downloaded more than 212,000 times in all 50 states and more than 140 countries. Learn more about our vision to save 7,500 babies every year and improve birth outcomes everywhere at CountTheKicks.org.