Kari Davis, a respiratory therapist at OhioHealth MedCentral, is launching a public health awareness campaign in Richland County aimed at reducing stillbirths and infant deaths. She serves as an Ohio spokesperson for “Count the Kicks,” a program started in Iowa to educate women on how to keep tabs on their infants during the last trimester of pregnancy.
On March 5, 2013, the lives of Kari and Marc Davis changed forever when their baby girl Harper Elizabeth was stillborn. Kari was 39.5 weeks pregnant and had a normal pregnancy up to that point. It was while looking for answers that she first discovered the five Iowa women who started the Count the Kicks campaign.
“I got in touch with them on the Internet, I was looking for answers about why stillbirths happen and I came across doing kick counts and I thought that was really interesting,” said Davis. “I looked more into what they were doing in Iowa and that’s how I found them. I reached out because after you have a stillbirth you feel so alone.”
Unfortunately, Davis is not alone. The National Institute of Health estimates that of the 4 million births a year in the United States, there are 26,000 stillbirths. This means 70 American women deliver a stillborn each day. Overall, one in every 160 births results in a stillborn. In Ohio alone there is an average of 980 stillborn births a year.
“It’s one of the least talked about pregnancy complications,” said Davis. “People are shocked by those numbers, they have absolutely no idea. It takes somebody going public and talking about their experience, and it’s amazing the moms who come up to me now and say ‘Kari, I had a stillbirth.’”
Davis became an ambassador for the Count the Kicks campaign in order to increase public awareness that simply counting a baby’s movements in the final trimester of pregnancy can save a life. Stillbirths are 60 percent more likely to occur towards the end of the pregnancy. Using the Count the Kicks app, moms can easily keep track of their baby’s kicks, rolls and punches.
“Count your baby’s movements every day around the same time,” explained Davis. “If you notice a significant change in your baby’s movement patterns you need to contact your healthcare provider right away.”
After becoming an ambassador for Count the Kicks, Davis received overwhelming support from OhioHealth MedCentral in helping to support the campaign. She said she has distributed information to various OBGYNs, throughout MedCentral and with the Richland Public Health Department.
“They are actually backing the campaign 100 percent so they’re providing the community with literature and providing me with support and outreach,” said Davis.
Currently, Davis is pregnant again with a baby boy. She said she is happy to honor her daughter Harper by educating other moms on such a simple thing to help their babies.
“She’s able to live on through this because I get to not only talk about my experience and talk about her, but also hopefully help other women to not have to go through this by spreading the message about Count the Kicks,” she said.
