Emily Eekhoff, from Iowa, recently welcomed a precious baby girl – but she and her husband know that things could have ended tragically, had they not been keeping a close eye on their little one throughout the pregnancy.
Emily had been using the Count the Kicks app all the way up to her 33rd week of pregnancy. The Count the Kicks app was designed to help mums-to-be monitor their baby’s activity within the womb.
The accompanying website reads: “Count the Kicks is a safe and simple way to help monitor the well-being of your baby. Use this app every day during your third trimester of pregnancy to track your baby’s movement patterns.
“Be sure to alert your provider immediately if you notice significant changes in your baby’s movements. DON’T WAIT!”
When Iowa woman Emily noticed that her baby’s movement had slowed down, alarm bells went off in her head and she decided to get a check-up. Emily now believes that this saved her baby’s life.
After entering the local Mercy Medical Centre, Emily and her husband were told that the umbilical cord had wrapped around their unborn daughter’s neck three times.
Urgent action was required, and Emily was brought in for an emergency C-section. Thankfully, baby Ruby was safely delivered at the end of May.
The tot spent the next 20 days receiving treatment in intensive care, and she was finally given the all-clear to return home last week – an event which has prompted the Eekhoffs to share their story.
In an interview with local news outlet WHOTV, Emily said she believes documenting her baby’s movements on this simple app saved her life.
“I haven’t let my mind go there,” said the emotional new mum. “We could have been burying our baby instead.”
“I think God was looking out for us that day, and we had the tools to know when to come in and get help when we needed it.”
The Count the Kicks app was launched in Iowa five years ago, by five women who suffered stillbirths. The aim of the campaign was to encourage mums-to-be to monitor their pregnancies more closely, and to raise awareness of when something may be wrong.
The app is free to download, and is available for Android and Apple phones.
We’re so relieved to hear that there was a happy ending to this story.
