How an App Monitoring Kicks in the Womb Saved This Mom’s Baby

When an expectant mother feels her baby’s kick for the first time, it’s a cause for celebration.

A free phone app called Count The Kicks alerted pregnant mother Emily Eekhoff that something was wrong with her baby’s kicks in the womb. The American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) suggests counting the kicks at your 28th week to help identify potential problems.

At 33 weeks, Eekhoff’s baby was not kicking at her regular intervals. A trip to Mercy Medical Center in Des Moines revealed that the umbilical cord was wrapped around the baby’s neck three times.

“It happened so quick. I didn’t have a lot of time to process she’s coming right now,” Eekhoff told Inside Edition.

Eekhoff credited the Count the Kicks app for saving her baby’s life.

“I think we owe them more than we could ever say, our daughter’s life. What they did with their own tragedies to build the app, build the organization is saving lives,” Emily Eekhoff told Inside Edition.

Developed by five women from Iowa who bonded over losing their babies to stillbirths or infant death, the Count The Kicks app prevents other expecting mothers from experiencing tragedy. Their organization, Healthy Birth Day, helps to fund efforts to spread the Count the Kicks message.

According to the American Pregnancy Association, every kick counts to help you notice any significant changes in your baby’s health and development.  The next step is to track your baby’s kicks in a notebook or the Count The Kicks app.

The Count The Kicks app is recommended for use during your third trimester of pregnancy. It works by daily tracking every kick you count with a touch of your finger on the baby foot icon until you reach 10 movements. Its daily text feature reminds you when it’s time to start counting.

After a few days, you will begin to see a pattern for your baby about the number of kicks. You can save your kick counting sessions in the app to see your baby’s movement history. The app will record the amount of time it takes to get 10 movements, or you can log your times into a Count the Kicks chart.

If you notice a change in your baby’s regular movement pattern, call your healthcare provider right away.

Emily Eekhoff did just that, and now she has a healthy baby girl.