Film Advocates for Routine Screening of Fetal Movements to Prevent Stillbirth
Too often, altered fetal movement is overlooked or dismissed, and families pay the ultimate price.— Samantha Banerjee, PUSH Executive Director
NEW YORK, NY, UNITED STATES, October 9, 2024 -- The world premiere of PUSH, a provocative short film by award-winning writer/director Ingrid Haas, as part of the nationwide public awareness initiative, Stillness is an Illness Campaign, will take place on October 17, 2024, in Brooklyn, New York. This emotionally charged 7-minute film explores the profound consequences of healthcare decisions during pregnancy, focusing on the often-overlooked issue of altered fetal movement (AFM). Told through two contrasting realities, PUSH reveals how a single medical decision can mean the difference between life and death for a baby.
"Too often, altered fetal movement is overlooked or dismissed, and families pay the ultimate price,” says Samantha Banerjee, Executive Director of PUSH for Empowered Pregnancy. “PUSH is about changing that narrative and pushing for critical shifts in prenatal care to save the lives of as many babies as we can."
Produced in collaboration with PUSH for Empowered Pregnancy as a core component of the Stillness Is An Illness Campaign, the film aims to raise awareness about the critical need to address AFM as a standard part of prenatal care in the third trimester. Despite numerous screenings for gestational diabetes, preeclampsia, and Group B Strep, AFM is often neglected. 55% of mothers who experienced a stillbirth were never told about the importance of altered fetal movement.
Stillbirth affects approximately 21,000 families in the U.S. each year—that’s about 65 babies, the equivalent of a full school bus, every single day.
“Many of these tragic losses are preventable, with research suggesting that up to half of term stillbirths could be avoided if warning signs like altered fetal movement (AFM) were properly monitored,” Banerjee explains. “Even more alarming, the U.S. ranks 48th out of 49 high-income countries in reducing stillbirth rates, highlighting a serious gap in prenatal care and education. Increased awareness of warning signs could significantly reduce these tragic losses.”
PUSH follows a pregnant woman in her third trimester who senses something is wrong and raises her concerns. From this pivotal moment, the film diverges into two parallel realities—one which leads to a devastating stillbirth, while the other ends in a life-saving intervention.
"I wanted to create a film that ignites a much-needed conversation about stillbirth prevention," said Ingrid Haas, writer/director of PUSH. "By showing the consequences of a single healthcare decision, we hope to encourage families and healthcare providers to recognize potential complications with empathy and urgency."
“We got involved with PUSH because we know their mission is vital—we’ve seen firsthand how the current system is failing families close to us and across the country,” says Ryan Tarvin, Founder & CEO, of KOBASE, “We believe creativity has the power to inspire action, and great work—work that stays with people long after they’ve seen it—can shift perspectives and drive meaningful change. We hope this campaign and short film will help accelerate PUSH’s progress toward their ambitious goal of ending preventable stillbirth in the US by 2035."
The film will be available to the public beginning on October 29, 2024 on pushpregnancy.org.
About PUSH for Empowered Pregnancy
PUSH for Empowered Pregnancy is on a mission to end preventable stillbirth, and is not taking no for an answer. 65 babies die in the second half of pregnancy every single day in the U.S. - that’s 21,000 each year, most of them otherwise healthy, and all of them deeply loved. Many of these babies could have been saved. Working closely with medical researchers and doctors, PUSH for Empowered Pregnancy exists to eradicate preventable stillbirth in the U.S by 2035.
Learn more at www.pushpregnancy.org
About KOBASE
Kobase is a next-gen creative partner that shapeshifts to meet the needs of its clients. By combining creative people with proprietary tech, Kobase cuts the fluff of traditional agencies to focus on ideas over process and deliver work that leaves a lasting impact.
Learn more at www.kobase.io
Media Contact: Laura Manatos, Laura Evans Media, laura@lauraevansmedia.com, +1 301-379-6028