Welcome to our new website! An update of the site was necessary following the publication, in September 2023, of the new clinical guideline from the Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada (SOGC): Antenatal Fetal Health Surveillance. In its new guideline, the SOGC finally recommends that ALL pregnant people monitor their baby’s movements in the third trimester.
This is a huge step forward for Canada and I am proud to have contributed to this change. Indeed, prior to this, pregnant people without risk factors were discouraged from counting their baby’s movements. It was done only for at risk pregnancies. For the past years, BabyKicks.ca has informed pregnant people of the significance of their baby’s movements during the third trimester and has encouraged them to count their movements daily. This can be a privileged bonding moment between parent and child. It is also a means of preventing stillbirths and detecting other perinatal problems that requires no technology.
Counting your baby’s movement is one of many means of ensuring a healthy pregnancy. Continue to follow the advice of your physician, midwife or other health care provider. Counting your baby’s movements does not guaranty that your baby will be healthy. Unfortunately, even with your best efforts, it can happen that your baby will be sick or die. I myself have lived through the trauma of losing a baby and I do not wish that experience on anyone. That is why I’ve created BabyKicks.ca to help pregnant people reduce, as much as possible, the risks of stillbirths.
I hope you will also take the time to read and print out our pamphlet “How to count your baby’s kicks” and even to bring a copy with you for your health care provider as you approach your third trimester in order to initiate the conversation surrounding the significance of your baby’s movements. I am by no means a health care professional and I don’t pretend to be. The information found on BabyKicks.ca is offered to you as a courtesy and does not replace the advice of your health care provider. I cannot be held responsible for the decisions you make on the basis of this information. Nonetheless, I hope it will be useful to you.
The website also contains a section more adapted to health care professionals who would like to learn more about fetal movement counting, as well as section with the list of the references I based myself on to write the information found on this site. I encourage you to consult them as well.
Finally, for those of you who are following me on Facebook and Instagram, please share and like my posts so that more parents can be made aware of the importance of their baby’s movements. And come back to read my blog regularly as I write new articles. Know that I also share my time to advocate for a national action plan to reduce stillbirths in Canada with my colleagues from the Canadian Collaborative for Stillbirth Prevention.
Do you like my new website? Do you appreciate that it isn’t filled with advertisements? Know that this cannot be achieved free of cost. Therefore, if you believe the information I’m presenting is relevant, you can contribute by giving a few dollars to my Go Fund Me campaign. Any amount you give will be greatly appreciated. I thank you in advance.
Nadine
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