My baby is moving less

Your baby's movements - NHS

When you'll feel your baby move

You should start to feel your baby move between around 16 to 24 weeks of pregnancy. If this is your first baby, you might not feel movements until after 20 weeks.

If you have not felt your baby move by 24 weeks, tell your midwife. They'll check your baby's heartbeat and movements.

You should feel your baby move right up to and during labour.

Other people cannot feel your baby move as early as you can. When they can feel the movements, by putting a hand on your bump, is different for everyone.

What your baby's movements feel like

The movements can feel like a gentle swirling or fluttering. As your pregnancy progresses, you may feel kicks and jerky movements.

Urgent advice: Call your midwife or maternity unit immediately if:

your baby is moving less than usual
you cannot feel your baby moving anymore
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 immediately, even if it's the middle of the night.

How often should your baby move?

There's no set number of movements you should feel each day – every baby is different.

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.

Important

Do not use a home doppler (heartbeat listening kit) to try to check the baby's heartbeat yourself. This is not a reliable way to check your baby's health. Even if you hear a heartbeat, this does not mean your baby is well.

Why your baby's movements are important

If your baby is not well, they will not be as active as usual. This means less movement can be a sign of infection or another problem.

The sooner this is found out the better, so you and your baby can be given the right treatment and care.

This could save your baby's life.

Can your baby move too much

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.

Find out more

Tommy’s: baby movements in pregnancy
Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists: your baby’s movements in pregnancy
signs that labour may be starting

Page last reviewed: 12 October 2021
Next review due: 12 October 2024

Baby movements in pregnancy | Tommy's

You may feel your baby move as early as 16 weeks of pregnancy, but most women usually feel something between 18 and 24 weeks. If this is your first pregnancy, you may not notice your baby’s movements until you are more than 20 weeks pregnant.

Tommy's has developed a guide to baby movements in partnership with NHS England on baby's movements in pregnancy. It is available in ten languages at the bottom of this page.

What does a movement feel like?

Baby movements in the womb, also known as fetal movements or ‘kicks’, can feel like anything from a flutter, kick, swish or roll. The type of movement may change as your pregnancy progresses.

How often should my baby move?

There is no set number of normal movements you should be feeling – every baby is different. Get to know how your baby moves.

From 18-24 weeks on you should feel the baby move more and more. After 32 weeks, the movements will stay roughly the same until you give birth.

It is NOT TRUE that babies move less towards the end of pregnancy.
You should CONTINUE to feel your baby move right up to the time you go into labour and during labour.

Get to know your baby’s normal kicks and movements.

DO NOT WAIT until the next day to seek advice if you are worried about your baby’s movements

Contact your midwife or maternity unit immediately if you think your baby’s movements have slowed down, stopped or changed. There are staff on the hospital maternity unit 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

DO NOT put off calling until the next day to see what happens.
Do not worry about phoning. It is important for your doctors and midwives to know if your baby’s movements have slowed down or stopped.

Find out what should happen when you report reduced fetal movement

Why are my baby’s movements important?

Feeling your baby move is a sign they are well.

If your baby moves less or if you notice a change this can sometimes be an important warning sign that a baby is unwell. If you get the right treatment and care as soon as you can this could save your baby’s life.

Is there anything that can affect being able to feel my baby move?

You may be less likely to be aware of your baby’s movements when you are active or busy.

If your placenta is at the front of your uterus (womb), it may not be easy for you to feel your baby’s movements. If your baby’s back is lying at the front of your uterus, you may feel fewer movements than if his or her back is lying alongside your own back.

But don’t assume this is why you can’t feel your baby’s movements. If you think your baby’s movements have slowed down, stopped or changed contact your midwife or maternity unit immediately. It’s always best to get checked.

Your baby lying head down or bottom first will not affect whether you can feel them move.

Can I make my baby move?

No, you should not try to make your baby move. If you think your baby’s movements have slowed down, stopped or changed contact your midwife or maternity unit immediately.

Can I use a home doppler to check on my baby?

Do not use any hand-held monitors, dopplers or phone apps to check your baby’s heartbeat. Even if you think you detect a heartbeat, this does not mean your baby is well because it might be your own heartbeat. You need to be checked by a healthcare professional.

Find out more about why using home devices are not a safe way of checking your baby’s health.

You need to be monitored by a cardiotocography machine or a midwife who can interpret the baby’s heartbeat.

Any care or treatment that could save a baby needs to be done when the baby has a heartbeat.

What happens if my baby's movements have slowed down?

Less than 24 weeks pregnant

Contact your midwife if you have never felt your baby move by 24 weeks. They will check your baby’s heartbeat. You may have an ultrasound scan and you may be referred to a specialist fetal medicine centre to check your baby's health.

Between 24 and 28 weeks pregnant

You should contact your midwife or local maternity unit immediately. Do not wait until the next day or next appointment.

You will have a full antenatal check-up that includes checking the size of your uterus, measuring your blood pressure and testing your urine for protein. If your uterus measures smaller or larger than expected, you may have an ultrasound scan to check on your baby’s growth and development.

Over 28 weeks

You should contact your midwife or local maternity unit immediately. Do not wait until the next day or next appointment.

You will have a full antenatal check-up, your baby's heart rate will be monitored to reassure you about your baby's wellbeing. This is done with a cardiotocograph monitor.

An ultrasound scan may be arranged if:

your womb is smaller or larger than expected
you have a high risk pregnancy
the heart rate is normal but you still feel that your baby's movements are slower or less
you have had reduced fetal movements already in your pregnancy.

If the movements have slowed down does it mean my baby is not well?

Fewer movements could mean that your baby is unwell, but usually these checks reveal that everything is OK. Most women who have experienced one episode of fewer movements go on to have a straightforward pregnancy and healthy baby. However it is very important that you are checked to make sure everything is OK.

What if my baby’s movements are reduced again?

If, after your check up, you are still not happy with your baby’s movement, you must contact either your midwife or maternity unit straight away, even if everything was OK last time.

NEVER HESITATE to contact your midwife or the maternity unit for advice, no matter how many times this happens.

Download the leaflet

The leaflet Feeling your baby move is a sign that they are well is available to download in English and many different languages.

Fetal movement tracking / Obstetrics and gynecology, reprudoctology / Articles about health / Articles and encyclopedia / madez.ru

The most reverent, unforgettable feeling during pregnancy is the first long-awaited stirring under the baby's heart. The baby begins to move from the 8th week. He already has the first muscle bundles and nerve fibers. It is still very small and, surrounded by amniotic fluid, practically does not touch the walls of the uterus. In the process of growth and development of the nervous system, his movements become more ordered, and already at the 20th week, the mother begins to feel the movements of her baby. Remember the date when you felt the first tremors of the child, the Doctor will definitely ask about it and mark it in the exchange card. Based on this parameter, he will calculate the estimated due date. During the first pregnancy, 20 weeks will be added to the date, with the second - 22.

Movement can determine the position of the fetus. In the place of its greatest activity, limbs are usually located.

Methods for diagnosing the well-being of the baby:

Cardiotocography (CTG) helps to monitor the well-being of the baby. The interaction of the nervous, muscular and cardiovascular systems is checked. If the child moved, and his heartbeat increased, the reaction is correct. If the heartbeat did not change when moving, this indicates the first signs of hypoxia and the need for close medical monitoring. Such a study is planned. Spend it from 30 weeks twice a month. nine0012
The state of blood circulation in the system "mother - placenta - fetus" allows you to evaluate ultrasound with dopplerometry. On this ultrasound, a qualitative and quantitative analysis of blood flow in the uterine arteries, umbilical cord vessels, aorta and cerebral arteries of the fetus is done.
Self-monitoring of fetal movements:

Count to ten test - DOWNLOAD TABLE

This is the simplest and most common baby D. Pearson's movement test. It is recommended by the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation and is indicated in official documents on the management of pregnancy in our country. It can be used by everyone from 28 weeks at home to independently monitor the condition of the child. In a special table, every tenth movement is noted from 9:00 to 21:00. This is how the features of his motor activity are determined. Under normal conditions, the tenth perturbation is noted before 17:00. If the number of movements within 12 hours is less than 10, it is advisable to inform the doctor. If the baby does not make itself felt within 12 hours - an emergency, urgently see a doctor!

The second test recommended by our gynecologists is counting movements for an hour. There should be 10-15 of them. If more or less, you must definitely pay attention to the doctor.

nine0002 If the baby does not move for three hours, there is no cause for concern. He can just sleep.

Table of movements is available on our website madez.ru in the section of the article about health "gynecology"

Movement language

Sometimes the movements become especially intense in a short period of time. This baby "protests" because of your uncomfortable position. If you lie on your back for a long time, the large vessels of the uterus are squeezed, blood flow to the fetus is reduced. By his actions, he is trying to force you to change position. nine0003

The baby calms down during a cold snap, when you experience, worry, sit for hours in one position. Try eating something sweet - he should respond to the treat. He benefits from walks in the fresh air for at least three hours a day, good nutrition, long sleep, a reasonable alternation of work and rest.

Keywords

Fetal movement during pregnancy

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Pregnant women and obstetrician-gynecologists are waiting for fetal movements. This is a very important sign that allows you to judge that the pregnancy is going well, and the child is developing successfully. Also, the baby communicates with the mother with the help of movements and can tell her about any inconvenience, so you need to listen to the movements of the fetus.

When fetal movements appear

The first fetal movement appears at the seventh or eighth week of pregnancy. However, the small fetus does not come into contact with the walls of the uterus, so the mother does not feel its movements.
Closer to the seventeenth week, the fetus begins to react to loud sound and light, from the eighteenth it begins to consciously move.
A woman begins to feel movements during her first pregnancy from the twentieth week. In subsequent pregnancies, these sensations occur two to three weeks earlier. Also, a woman will feel the first movement of the fetus earlier if she is slim and leads an active lifestyle. nine0012
From the twenty-eighth week, especially active movements are observed. The child "communicates" with the mother, reacts to her emotions. This continues until the thirty-second week, when the baby grows so much that it can no longer actively move in the uterus.

Fetal movement - as normal

Except for three to four hours a day when the baby sleeps, he is in constant motion. In the twentieth week, the fetus makes two hundred perturbations a day, from the twenty-eighth to the thirty-second, their number increases to six hundred. Then, the activity decreases again. nine0003

Fetal activity may vary depending on the following factors:

Time of day . Usually the fetus moves more actively in the evening and at night.
Mother's emotions . If a pregnant woman is under stress, then the child is frightened, may freeze and stop moving, or, conversely, react to adrenaline with active movements.
Physical activity . During physical activity, the child is usually more calm than at rest. If the mother is in an uncomfortable position for a long time, the fetus may react with strong painful shocks. nine0012
Pregnant diet . If the mother feels hungry, the child begins to move more actively. Also pushing and touching become stronger after eating. Especially if mom eats sweets.
Environment a. The fetus reacts to loud sounds, sudden switching on of light. He may freeze in fear, or vice versa, begin to move more actively.

Why and how to count fetal movements

Changes in the motor activity of the fetus may be a sign of pregnancy pathology. Too strong, painful, or vice versa, weakened movements signal that the child does not have enough oxygen. This condition is called fetal hypoxia. In addition, sensations change when the amount of amniotic fluid changes. Therefore, it is important to count fetal movements, especially during the first pregnancy. nine0003

There are three methods for counting fetal movements: