Healthy Blue teams with Count the Kicks on Idaho maternal health education

Healthy Blue is partnering with Count the Kicks to expand stillbirth-prevention education for expectant parents and providers across Idaho. The effort aims to close maternal health gaps in a state where many families face long travel times, maternity care deserts and elevated stillbirth risk.

Why it matters: - The partnership is meant to give Idaho families and providers free access to evidence-based education that can help spot a possible pregnancy problem earlier. - Healthy Blue and Count the Kicks say the goal is to improve birth outcomes and save about 28 babies in Idaho each year. - The effort targets a state where maternal care access is uneven, including long travel distances and maternity care deserts.

What happened: - Community Care Health Plan of Idaho, Inc., doing business as Healthy Blue, said September 1, 2026 that it is collaborating with Count the Kicks to expand maternal health education across Idaho. - The grant-backed collaboration will provide Count the Kicks materials at no cost to maternal health providers, birthing hospitals, social service agencies, childbirth educators and other providers in Idaho. - Healthy Blue also said it recently announced plans to pursue participation in Idaho’s upcoming Medicaid managed care contract.

The details: - Count the Kicks is an evidence-based stillbirth prevention program focused on helping expectant parents track baby movement in the third trimester. - The program teaches parents to notice the normal time it takes their baby to reach 10 movements and to call a healthcare provider if that pattern changes. - Research shows 25% of stillbirths are potentially preventable. - The CDC lists a change in a baby’s movements as one of 15 urgent maternal warning signs. - Research also shows a change in a baby’s normal movement pattern can be the first or only sign of a developing problem during pregnancy. - Stillbirth is commonly defined as the loss of a baby at 20 weeks or greater gestation. - The CDC says stillbirth affects more than 20,000 U.S. families each year. - Idaho sees 112 stillbirths each year, and one in every 205 births in the state ends in stillbirth. - Idaho women travel 14 miles on average to reach a hospital providing obstetric care. - Thirty-two percent of Idaho counties are considered maternity care deserts. - Idaho ranks 38th for coverage, access and affordability of care. - Women living in maternity care deserts travel 2.9 times farther than women in areas with full access. - Count the Kicks says the program’s digital and analog tools help parents learn their baby’s normal movement pattern over a few days. - Research published in BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology found the program effective as a method for stillbirth prevention. - Researchers linked to that work have called for urgent action on the U.S. stillbirth crisis and for national-level study of Count the Kicks.

Between the lines: - The partnership is as much about access as education, since free materials can reach providers who may not have the resources to build their own counseling tools. - Idaho’s care gaps make early warning education more important, especially for families who must travel farther to get obstetric care. - The program’s emphasis on movement monitoring reflects a simple intervention with potentially outsized impact if expectant parents act quickly when patterns change.

What's next: - Healthy Blue and Count the Kicks will push provider training and public awareness efforts across Idaho. - Expectant parents who notice a change in their baby’s usual movement pattern in the third trimester are urged to call a healthcare provider right away. - Healthy Blue said it is joining communities nationwide in reducing stillbirth through the Count the Kicks program.