*A Burmese language billboard, active at 42nd Street and University Avenue in Des Moines.*

Many expectant parents-to-be eagerly await the day they feel their little one moving around. Keeping track of every twist and turn can help parents identify changes in their baby’s movements, potentially preventing stillbirth.

Today, a partnership between EMBARC and Healthy Birth Day, Inc. is expanding access to the nonprofit organzation’s Count the Kicks campaign in the Burma refugee and immigrant community, through Burmese language app translations and a new billboard campaign.

With the help of EMBARC, Healthy Birth Day, Inc. translated their free, kick-counting mobile app into Burmese. The translated version launched in January 2022, and is now easily accessible to the community. Since it launched in 2015, the app has amassed 14 languages, striving to reach every person that is pregnant regardless of language, culture, or location.

“Our ultimate goal is to make kick counting a common practice for all expectant parents in the third trimester of pregnancy,” said Kimberly Isburg, Communications Specialist for Healthy Birth Day.

Most recently, the partnership birthed two of the first Burmese billboards in Iowa, thanks to funding from United Way of Central Iowa. Drivers will see Burmese-language promotions at the intersection of 42nd Street and University Avenue, and Army Post Road and Southwest 9th Street in Des Moines. The partnership previously sponsored Burmese billboards in Cedar Rapids and Waterloo early this summer.

A year in the works, the towering advertisements go beyond informing the masses. Representation for the Burmese community in Iowa is minimal, but EMBARC Director Abigail Sui said that she sees value in Burmese being prominently displayed.

“People listen to our voice by having our language on the billboard,” Sui said.

Many Burma community members didn’t know about kick counting or how life-saving it could be, Sui said. Several women expressed how much they wished they had this information when they were pregnant, because they had lost their babies.

Count the Kicks is a campaign started by five central Iowa women to curb the stillbirth rate by tracking fetal movements in the third trimester of pregnancy. Each woman was driven by her own experience with stillbirth or infant loss. Since 2008, their organization has created the tools and resources to provide accurate information on how kick counting can save babies from stillbirth. From pamphlets in the doctor’s office to a free mobile app, expectant parents are empowered to know what is normal for their baby, and when to speak up. Between 2008 and 2018, the stillbirth rate in Iowa had decreased by 32%.

With a data-driven focus on dismantling racial disparities in birth outcomes, Count the Kicks has helped to educate expectant parents of color, elevate their voices, and encourage them to speak up when fetal movements are abnormal for their baby.

At the beginning of their partnership, EMBARC invited Healthy Birth Day, Inc.’s Program Director Megan Aucutt to lead a training to EMBARC Parent Navigators on stillbirth prevention and kick counting. The training was then translated into multiple Burmese ethnic languages and shared with community members.

“We know that there’s Asian/Pacific Islanders all throughout Iowa that would benefit greatly from this information,” Aucutt said.

EMBARC is thankful to Healthy Birth Day, Inc. for helping make the app and billboards possible. In the near future, Count the Kicks materials will be available to order online in Burmese, so people across the state can access this information too.

“It’s been great to have another community-based organization really collaborate with us, and provide us with the tools and resources we need to make sure we’re meeting the needs of their community,” Aucutt said.

EMBARC partners with Healthy Birth Day, Inc. to bring stillbirth prevention to communities

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