Count the Kicks Program Expands to Minnesota

State Expansion

• Kimberly Isburg
• 07.24.25

Count the Kicks is partnering with the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) to bring our proven stillbirth prevention program to the state. Through the partnership, OB-GYNs, nurses, midwives, birthing hospitals, social service agencies, childbirth educators, doulas, and other maternal healthcare providers in Minnesota can order free Count the Kicks educational materials (available in English and Spanish).

Our bright yellow educational materials help maternal healthcare professionals have a conversation about monitoring a baby’s movement patterns in the third trimester of pregnancy. They also educate expectant parents on how to count, along with connecting them to our FREE app and other resources.  

Research shows nearly 30% of stillbirths can be prevented when expectant parents are educated on how to monitor their baby’s movements daily starting at 28 weeks. The Count the Kicks program teaches expectant parents a simple method to become familiar with their baby’s normal movement patterns, and is proven to improve birth outcomes for moms and babies.

After a few days using the free Count the Kicks mobile app (available in 20+ languages), web-based counting platform or counting on a paper chart, expectant parents will begin to see a pattern, a normal amount of time it 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 parent should call their health care provider right away. 

“After my daughter, Reese, was stillborn in 2014 at term I learned that her death was preventable with better education around stillbirth prevention measures like consistently tracking fetal movement in the third trimester. Education that I was never given. Imagine living a life after the death of your child, knowing their death could have been prevented with access to resources,” said Amanda Duffy, Reese’s mom and Count the Kicks Ambassador in Minnesota.

“This partnership with the Minnesota Department of Health and Healthy Birth Day, Inc. means that expectant parents will have access to free educational materials along with their providers, lives will be saved, and babies will be given the chance to grow and thrive after birth. I can think of no better way to honor the short but impactful life of my daughter than to help save the lives of those to come.”

Stillbirth is a national public health crisis that impacts more than 21,000 families in the U.S. every year, according to the CDC. Every year approximately 325 Minnesota families experience the tragedy of stillbirth. For expectant parents in the state, one in every 197 pregnancies ends in stillbirth.

The health of a mom and the health of her baby are intrinsically connected. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) lists a change in a baby’s movements as one of its 15 urgent maternal warning signs. Research shows a change in a baby’s normal movement pattern is sometimes the first or only indication there may be an issue developing during the pregnancy. 

This program was funded by the Minnesota Legislature in 2024 and is supported by the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH). MDH is committed to supporting families and programs that help reduce infant loss. 

In Minnesota, Non-Hispanic American Indian and Non-Hispanic African American/Black women experience higher rates of stillbirths versus women in the state overall. The CDC states that these differences in outcomes can often be attributed to underlying causes such as access to quality health care and pre-existing conditions. Expectant parents in some age groups, geographic locations, and those expecting multiples also face an increased risk of stillbirth.

Research published in BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology shows a more than 30% reduction in Iowa’s stillbirth rate in the first 10 years of the Count the Kicks program at a time when America’s stillbirth rate remained stagnant. Through this collaboration, MDH is hoping to bring the same success to Minnesota, which would save approximately 104 babies in the state each year. 

Count the Kicks is hosting a free webinar for healthcare professionals in Minnesota on Aug. 26, 2025, to share more about our proven stillbirth prevention program. Join us to learn how you can help improve birth outcomes for expectant parents in Minnesota by implementing Count the Kicks in your work. Register now.