TOLEDO, Ohio — The Toledo-Lucas County Health Department’s Local Office on Minority Health is hosting an educational program called "Count the Kicks," a free community event that aims to inform and educate pregnant mothers and expecting fathers about fetal movements.
The event is a stillbirth prevention public health campaign encouraging expecting parents to track babies' movement daily during the third trimester of pregnancy and to contact their health provider right away if there is a change in what’s normal for their baby.
The health department's Commission on Minority Health and Pathway Inc.'s Brothers United program will host the event from 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the Kent Branch Library on Collingwood Boulevard.
The Ohio Department of Health reported and infant mortality rate of 6.5 per 1,000 live births from July 1, 2020 through June 30, 2022.
A TLCHD press release said "Black women have a twofold increase risk of stillbirth compared to white women."
The infant mortality rate was 13 per 1,000 live births for Black mothers and fiver per 1,000 live births for white mothers.
The Brothers United Program is aiming for fathers to get involved in raising their children as much as possible -- and is encouraging them to participate in this event as well.
"There is 20 years worth of study that is qualified that states, when fathers are involved in their children’s lives, all of that social ills, can be gone as well as infant mortality," Pathway's Director of Family Supportive Services Avis Files said.
Download the Count the Kicks app to track fetal kicks with a smartphone.