Fetal movement monitor catching on

Jennifer Lopez, Gwen Stefani and Nicole Kidman each own a kickTrak. But it’s no celebrity workout fad — it’s a portable fetal movement monitor.

Counting kicks and other fetal movements gives expectant parents a constructive way to channel anxiety into action — and has been proven to reveal otherwise undetected problems such as growth-restricted fetuses that without intervention can lead to stillbirth. According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data, one out of every 160 pregnancies in the U.S. ends in stillbirth — the birth of an infant who has died in the womb.