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From the article they mention a user being angry that they lost their kick data. It felt like they were highlighting this scenario like it was somehow weird or

From the article they mention a user being angry that they lost their kick data. It felt like they were highlighting this scenario like it was somehow weird or unusual that a pregnant mother was upset that she lost this data. This "fascination" from the author is unhelpful IMHO. I am not surprised that the pregnant mother was upset - in the UK it is now drilled into you that you need to keep track of kick data for your child and that you must - must - call the hospital as soon as you notice any change at all in kicking from your unborn child (1). They are deliberately very vague and unclear about what a "change" constitutes - just that if you feel something has changed at all or in any way then you need to call. From experience, these calls always end with a request that you go into hospital for a check from a midwife. So 55 kicks today, but 60 yesterday? Come in and a midwife will hook you up to keep track of your baby's vitals for an hour just to be sure with lots of reassurance that you did the right thing by coming in and getting it checked. So no shit if you've entrusted this data to an app and they've dropped the ball, no wonder you are angry: this is not just data for data's sake - not having it potentially endangers the life of your unborn child because you don't have your historical data to compare against any more, so you can't know anymore if today's kicks are changed from yesterday's or the day before etc. I am sure many people will scoff and call this an overreaction (including apparently the author of the article) but this is the current recommendation from the NHS here, and not everyone has a totally normal medical history or otherwise-textbook pregnancy where it is all skipping through meadows of wild daisys and baby ducklings quietly nuzzling at your feet followed by the perfect stress and pain free delivery. People can and do have medical circumstances that influence pregnancy. It ain't all plain sailing. People have reason to need to trust that their medical data is stored safely and reliably. To insinuate that is is odd is deeply unhelpful. 1 - https://www.nhs.uk/pregnancy/keeping-well/your-babys-movements/ https://www.nhs.uk/pregnancy/keeping-well/your-babys-movemen...

top_post 6y ago
We had a similar experience, where my wife was STRESSED OUT ALL THE TIME at the data in these apps. Everything was tracked and it was fucking awful. The reliance on them meant she had no idea how to feel intuitively about our kid growing inside of her. After some convincing, the apps were ditched, she felt more "in tune" with what was going on, and we even had a ride to hospital to check on things because she felt things had gone quiet movement wise. Our kid moved like clockwork at certain times of the day and after meals, no app needed to figure that out. These apps are a fucking cancer on what should be an enjoyable and natural time.
- fy20 6y ago
  If you are in that situation it's probably even worse for the child than not keeping track of all this data. Stress from the mother during pregnancy can and does affect the development of the child: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fped.2017.00202/full https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fped.2017.00202... My wife took maternity leave from 3 months before her due date for this very reason. I understand not everyone can, but it baffles my mind that often those who are able to, choose to continue to work rather than taking time off to care for themselves and their unborn child.
jcjshakdnsjz 6y ago
You just mansplained the importance of pregnancy data to a mother and academic who spent years studying the subject.
robocat 6y ago
> in the UK it is now drilled into you that you need to keep track of kick data for your child and that you must - must - call the hospital as soon as you notice any change at all in kicking from your unborn child (1). From link: “You do not need to count the number of kicks or movements you feel each day. The important thing is to get to know your baby's usual movements from day to day.”. I am guessing you are repeating what you have heard outside of the NHS recommendations (the NHS link appears well written to me, although I have zero experience). Quotes from https://www.nhs.uk/pregnancy/keeping-well/your-babys-movements/ https://www.nhs.uk/pregnancy/keeping-well/your-babys-movemen... “Call your midwife or maternity unit straight away if: your baby is moving less than usual; you cannot feel your baby moving any more; there is a change to your baby's usual pattern of movements. They'll need to check your baby's movements and heartbeat. Do not wait until the next day – call straight away, even if it's the middle of the night.” “It's not likely your baby can move too much. The important thing is to be aware of your baby's usual pattern of movements. Any changes to this pattern of movements should be checked by a midwife or doctor.”
- TeMPOraL 6y ago
  What your quotes say and what GP says boil down to the same thing. How can you tell if "your baby is moving less than usual; (...) there is a change to your baby's usual pattern of movements"? You count kicks. And quite likely note it down, because there's plenty of things going on, particularly around pregnancy, that will make you prone to forgetting such counts from day to day.
obventio56 6y ago
As a person who has yet to be involved with the creation of children I am curious: What kind of issues could a change in kicking indicate? If there were an issue what, if any, interventions do doctors have at their disposal to make things better?
- tickerticker 6y ago
  Umbilical cord wrapped around baby's neck, depriving fetus of blood flow to brain. Intervention: pre-natal surgery, or delivery depending on term.
bsanr2 6y ago
Most annoying about these kinds of situations is that the company likely hasn't even lost the data, but has simply removed your ability to access it. It's probably still being used to profile and profit off you, but good luck being able to use it yourself. I'm almost certain that this is the case with my Google search history, for example, where anything over a few years old has become quite difficult to access (entries that used to have very granular data about my browsing now simply list a domain), but I find it incredibly hard to believe that it's been completely discarded. We desperately need modernized data rights and regulations. Companies can afford it.
pimlottc 6y ago
Aside from all that, I’m sure the app itself had all sorts of messaging on how important this info is, and all the nasty things tracking it can help prevent, and lots of pretty graphs and visualizations. Why wouldn’t you be upset after that?

top_post 6y ago

We had a similar experience, where my wife was STRESSED OUT ALL THE TIME at the data in these apps. Everything was tracked and it was fucking awful. The reliance on them meant she had no idea how to feel intuitively about our kid growing inside of her. After some convincing, the apps were ditched, she felt more "in tune" with what was going on, and we even had a ride to hospital to check on things because she felt things had gone quiet movement wise. Our kid moved like clockwork at certain times of the day and after meals, no app needed to figure that out. These apps are a fucking cancer on what should be an enjoyable and natural time.

fy20 6y ago
If you are in that situation it's probably even worse for the child than not keeping track of all this data. Stress from the mother during pregnancy can and does affect the development of the child: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fped.2017.00202/full https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fped.2017.00202... My wife took maternity leave from 3 months before her due date for this very reason. I understand not everyone can, but it baffles my mind that often those who are able to, choose to continue to work rather than taking time off to care for themselves and their unborn child.

jcjshakdnsjz 6y ago

You just mansplained the importance of pregnancy data to a mother and academic who spent years studying the subject.

robocat 6y ago

> in the UK it is now drilled into you that you need to keep track of kick data for your child and that you must - must - call the hospital as soon as you notice any change at all in kicking from your unborn child (1). From link: “You do not need to count the number of kicks or movements you feel each day. The important thing is to get to know your baby's usual movements from day to day.”. I am guessing you are repeating what you have heard outside of the NHS recommendations (the NHS link appears well written to me, although I have zero experience). Quotes from https://www.nhs.uk/pregnancy/keeping-well/your-babys-movements/ https://www.nhs.uk/pregnancy/keeping-well/your-babys-movemen... “Call your midwife or maternity unit straight away if: your baby is moving less than usual; you cannot feel your baby moving any more; there is a change to your baby's usual pattern of movements. They'll need to check your baby's movements and heartbeat. Do not wait until the next day – call straight away, even if it's the middle of the night.” “It's not likely your baby can move too much. The important thing is to be aware of your baby's usual pattern of movements. Any changes to this pattern of movements should be checked by a midwife or doctor.”

TeMPOraL 6y ago
What your quotes say and what GP says boil down to the same thing. How can you tell if "your baby is moving less than usual; (...) there is a change to your baby's usual pattern of movements"? You count kicks. And quite likely note it down, because there's plenty of things going on, particularly around pregnancy, that will make you prone to forgetting such counts from day to day.

obventio56 6y ago

As a person who has yet to be involved with the creation of children I am curious: What kind of issues could a change in kicking indicate? If there were an issue what, if any, interventions do doctors have at their disposal to make things better?

tickerticker 6y ago
Umbilical cord wrapped around baby's neck, depriving fetus of blood flow to brain. Intervention: pre-natal surgery, or delivery depending on term.

bsanr2 6y ago

Most annoying about these kinds of situations is that the company likely hasn't even lost the data, but has simply removed your ability to access it. It's probably still being used to profile and profit off you, but good luck being able to use it yourself. I'm almost certain that this is the case with my Google search history, for example, where anything over a few years old has become quite difficult to access (entries that used to have very granular data about my browsing now simply list a domain), but I find it incredibly hard to believe that it's been completely discarded. We desperately need modernized data rights and regulations. Companies can afford it.

pimlottc 6y ago

Aside from all that, I’m sure the app itself had all sorts of messaging on how important this info is, and all the nasty things tracking it can help prevent, and lots of pretty graphs and visualizations. Why wouldn’t you be upset after that?