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When can you feel baby move? Fetal movement explained.

Feeling your baby kicking is one of the highlights of pregnancy. But when can you feel your baby move, and what does baby movement feel like? The truth is that baby kicks are more like flutters at first, and you may not feel your baby move until halfway through pregnancy. But by the third trimester, your baby will be making some big moves that are impossible to ignore.

When can you feel baby move?

You probably won't feel your baby kick until sometime between 16 and 22 weeks, even though they started moving at 7 or 8 weeks. (You may have witnessed the acrobatics if you've already had an ultrasound. )

Veteran moms tend to notice those first subtle kicks, also known as "quickening," earlier than first-time moms because it's easier to distinguish your baby's kicks from other belly rumblings (such as gas) if you've been pregnant before.

Your build may have something to do with when you'll be able to tell a left jab from a hunger pang: Thin women tend to feel movement earlier and more often.

Once you can feel your baby moving, it will probably be a few more weeks until your partner can feel the baby kick.

What does baby movement feel like?

Women have described the early sensation as feeling like popcorn popping, a goldfish swimming around, or butterflies fluttering. You might think those first gentle taps or swishes in your belly are gas, but you'll recognize the difference once you start feeling them more regularly.

Once you've reached your third trimester, you won't be able to ignore your baby's jabs, rolls, and kicks. As they get larger, you may see a pointy elbow or knee moving across your belly or feel a full-on somersault.

Every pregnancy is different, so it's hard to say exactly what you'll feel and when, but here's a rough guide.

Baby movement at 16 to 19 weeks

You'll probably notice faint and fluttery feelings in your womb around this time. If you've been pregnant before, you'll be more familiar with this sensation and quicker to identify your baby's movements.

If this is your first pregnancy, it may take a bit longer before you realize that those gentle bubbling or popping sensations are actually your baby moving! It may be easier to feel your baby when you're sitting quietly or lying down.

Baby movement at 20 to 23 weeks

You may notice gentle kicks and jabs. As the weeks go by, you'll gradually feel stronger and more frequent movements, and you'll come to recognize your baby's unique pattern of activity. If you don't feel your baby moving, tell your doctor or midwife.

You may find that your baby becomes more lively as the day goes on, kicking, squirming, and somersaulting the most in the evening when you're relaxed. Some moms notice their baby moving a lot right after they eat, especially if they have a sugary treat. But studies haven't found a link between what you eat and your baby's activity level.

Baby movement at 24 to 28 weeks

Your amniotic sac now contains up to 26 ounces of fluid. This gives your baby plenty of space to move around freely, so you may feel like your little one is doing elaborate acrobatics routines in your womb. Limb movements may feel punchy, while whole-body movements may be smoother. You may even notice your baby jumping at sudden noises, or you may feel repetitive jerking movements when your baby gets hiccups.

Baby movement at 29 to 31 weeks

Your baby is likely to be making smaller, sharper, more definite movements, such as strong kicks and pushes. You may also occasionally feel a shaky movement, like a shiver, as your baby shakes a hand, shoulder, or elbow.  

Depending on how your baby is positioned, you may feel the kicks up under your ribs, in the center or side of your belly, or very low in your pelvis. Some women report kicks to their cervix – which feel uncomfortable but are totally normal. Don't worry, no matter how strong your baby's kicks, they're safe inside and won't do any damage.

Baby movement at 32 to 35 weeks

As your baby grows and has less room to move, you may notice that the type of movement you feel changes, perhaps becoming slower but lasting longer.

Baby movement at 36 to 40 weeks

As you approach your due date, your baby will get larger and won't have enough room for dramatic somersaults. After they move to a head-down position in preparation for birth, you may feel kicks in new places, like underneath your ribs on one side or the other. Your baby's movements may feel slower, but also harder and stronger. Jabs from their arms and kicks from their legs may feel uncomfortable or even painful.

It's normal to notice a change in the types of movement you feel in late pregnancy. But you should still be feeling your baby move right up until and even during labor itself.

How often should I feel my baby kicking?

At first, noticeable kicks will be few and far between. You may feel several movements one day and then none the next. Although your baby is moving and kicking regularly, many of their movements just aren't strong enough for you to feel yet. But those reassuring kicks will become stronger and more regular later in the second trimester or early in the third trimester.

Don't worry if your experience is different from your friends'. Every baby has their own pattern of activity, and as long as your baby's usual activity level doesn't decrease, chances are they're doing just fine.

Do I need to keep track of my baby kicking?

Once you're feeling kicks regularly, pay attention to how often your baby moves, and let your healthcare provider know right away if you ever notice your baby's activity level slow down.

Less movement in the third trimester may signal a problem, and your provider may want you to have a nonstress test, an ultrasound measurement of amniotic fluid, and possibly a biophysical profile to make sure everything is okay. (You may also have these tests as a routine part of your prenatal care if you have a high-risk pregnancy.)

Some providers recommend that in your third trimester, you spend some time each day counting your baby's kicks. There are lots of ways to do this, so ask your provider for specific instructions.

For example, your provider may suggest that you choose a time of day when your baby tends to be active. (Ideally, you'll want to do the counts at roughly the same time each day.) Then sit quietly or lie on your side and time how long it takes to feel 10 distinct movements – kicks, elbow jabs, and whole body movements all count. If you don't feel 10 movements in two hours, call your healthcare provider.

Learn more:

• Pregnancy symptoms you should never ignore
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Fetal movement during pregnancy | When the first movements appear

Pregnancy

Article

5/5 1 reviews

The feeling of the first fetal movements is one of the most exciting experiences during pregnancy. The movements of the crumbs help to fully feel the presence of a small life inside and make sure that everything is in order with the crumbs. After all, the movement of the baby in the stomach is also an important marker that allows you to assess his condition at different stages of pregnancy.

6 min. for reading Feb. 17, 2022

When do the first movements appear?

The baby begins to move very early in the womb - at 7-8 weeks of gestation. But the first movement of the fetus goes unnoticed, since during this period it is very tiny, a little larger than a marigold.

The first tangible movements of the child, as a rule, appear in the second trimester - between 16 and 22 weeks of pregnancy, when the baby has already grown and grown stronger. The week in which the movement is felt depends on many factors:

• First or second child. During the first pregnancy, the movements of the baby become noticeable closer to the 20-22nd week. If the pregnancy is the second or third, the movements begin to be felt on average at 18 weeks or even earlier, because the woman already knows what sensations to expect.
• Placenta placement. If the placenta is closer to the back wall of the uterus, then the woman may feel movements later, if to the front - earlier.
• The physique of the expectant mother. Sometimes physique plays a role: fragile girls can feel the first tremors 2 weeks earlier.
• Lifestyle. In the midst of the working day, in noise or shaking, fetal movement is easy to miss. It is more likely to feel the first movement of the crumbs in a calm position, sitting or lying down.

In what part of the abdomen do you feel the first movements? Usually timid first movements are felt in the lower abdomen. At first, it is easy to confuse them with other internal processes, such as rumbling and bouts of hunger. But the baby grows and the movements become more intense, more diverse and “travel” along the tummy along with the tumbling baby.

Features of fetal movements at different stages of pregnancy

The nature and frequency of movements of the child change as he grows and develops. At first they are weak and irregular, but then the activity increases, and the movements become stronger and more intense.

Let's take a closer look at how the baby moves at different times and how the mother feels it.

First trimester

Toward the end of the first trimester, the baby begins to make its first movements, as light as the fluttering of a butterfly. But it is still very small, so in most cases the movements go unnoticed. The maximum that can be felt is a light, light, barely noticeable flutter in the lower abdomen or something resembling bubbles.

Second trimester

At 16 weeks pregnant, some women begin to feel the baby move. Someone describes them as the flutter of small wings or the movement of a fish wagging its tail, while someone describes them as twitching of a vein pulsating inside or blows of a small hammer.

By 20 weeks, most pregnant women already feel the baby's light movements. At week 24, they become more pronounced and intense, sometimes accompanied by a slight twitch during hiccups. By the end of the second trimester, active fetal movement begins - the child somersaults and pushes more and more clearly, more often and stronger.

Third trimester

At 28 weeks, the baby moves up to 30 times an hour, and some of his kicks and pokes can be so strong that the mother takes her breath away. During this period, obstetricians recommend starting to count the movements of the child. The nature of the activity helps the doctor understand what is happening with the baby and how he is developing.

At this stage of development, the baby develops a certain pattern of sleep and wakefulness. Peak activity tends to occur in the evening and at night—between 9:00 PM and 01:00 AM—just when mom is trying to sleep. This surge is due to changes in blood sugar levels. In addition, the movements of the baby can react to touch, bright light, loud noises or an uncomfortable posture of the mother.

Your baby's activity continues to increase until 32 weeks. But after that, the grown-up child becomes more and more crowded in the fetal sac and the number of movements is reduced.

Tip

If you want your baby to make itself felt and move around, eat something sweet and lie on your side. An increase in blood glucose will cheer up the baby and he will begin to push.

Due to lack of space, fetal movements before childbirth become slower and more and more constrained. However, the baby should continue to move regularly throughout the day.

Important!

If your child's activity changes dramatically for unexplained reasons: he calms down or vice versa - the movements are too intensified and more frequent - tell your doctor as soon as possible. A change in the motor activity of the fetus may be a symptom of a violation of its condition and necessarily requires additional examination.

How to correctly calculate fetal movements?

Starting from the 28th week of pregnancy, the child's physical activity should be monitored every day. Until this time, the movements of the baby are not so noticeable, so the calculation will be uninformative.

So, how many movements should be per day? And how to count them correctly?

To determine the characteristics of the child's activity at home, use a special test of fetal movement by D. Pearson - "Count to ten". To do this, you need to mark in a special table every tenth movement of the baby from 9:00 to 21:00. If the child develops normally, then in 12 hours you will count at least 10 movements.

Important!

Not every push is considered a movement, but a series of movements (from the start of pushes to a pause).

After the 10th movement, write down the time and start counting the next day. And if the baby moves much less or does not make itself felt within 12 hours, contact your doctor as soon as possible!

In addition to the Pearson test, there is another way to count the child's movements. Choose an hour during which you will count movements every day. It is very important to do it at the same time. Focus on the baby's movements and see how long it takes the baby to complete 10 kicks. If you counted 10 shocks in an hour, you can be calm - everything is in order.

If you still don't get 10 pushes within an hour, try eating, changing your position, and then try counting the number of pushes again.

Advice

Keep a diary of your movements to record all changes. You can write everything in a notebook, or you can use a special mobile application that will help you track and record movements.

What should alert the future mother?

Be sure to contact your gynecologist if:

• You are past 22 weeks and you still don't feel your baby move. Perhaps you just did not notice them, but you need to make sure that the pregnancy is proceeding normally.
• Tracking the activity of the child, you notice that for more than 12 hours there is no movement at all or they have become significantly less during the day.
• For several hours in a row, the baby behaves too actively, the intensity of the shocks has changed so much that it hurts you because of his movements.
• A sharp change in the nature and frequency of movements is monitored, although there are no apparent reasons for this. This may indicate a violation of the condition of the fetus, its heartbeat, or an infection.

Advice

In the third trimester of pregnancy it is not recommended to sleep on your back. In this position, the vena cava can be clamped, which provides the baby with oxygen.

See also: Cord entanglement: causes and consequences for the baby

To make sure that everything is fine with the baby, the doctor may perform several examinations, such as auscultation, cardiotocography (CTG) and Doppler ultrasound.

Auscultation is a method of assessing the condition of the baby by the sounds that he makes in the womb. The doctor listens to the tone and rhythm of the heartbeat, different noises, monitors their sequence and duration.

CTG (cardiotocography) is an ultrasound examination of the fetus. But unlike conventional ultrasound, during CTG, the tone of the uterus, the heartbeat and the movements of the baby are recorded. Based on the results of this study, the doctor can determine how comfortable the child feels, check the work of his heart and the level of development. If there are deviations in CTG, the specialist may recommend an assessment of the fetal blood flow - dopplerometry.

If indicated, your doctor can choose the right treatment, recommend that the mother rest and get more rest, or even prescribe bed rest.

But do not immediately panic if the child is suspiciously quiet for an hour or two. Perhaps right now he is sleeping or preparing for an imminent meeting with his parents. There are also children who rest all day and become active only in the late afternoon. Just be attentive to yourself, your feelings and do not forget to take good care of your baby.

Related articles:

How does the baby behave before birth?
How does a woman's diet affect fetal development?

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Article "First Movements"

The movements of the child are a way of his communication with his mother and with the outside world. In moments of excitement or joy, a woman often feels a more active movement of the baby.

The movements of the baby are not only an indicator of his condition, but also the unique sensations that the mother experiences during this happy period of her life, during pregnancy.

You have known for a long time that you are pregnant, mentally, and maybe talking out loud with the baby, but most mothers manage to really feel that the dearest little man in the world lives inside you only after his first pushes.

1. When the baby starts moving

Normally, the baby begins to move from the 8th week of pregnancy, when arms and legs appear. It’s just that its size is so small, and the blows are so weak that mom doesn’t feel it. The first movement of a child noticeable to a woman, as a rule, appears at 20-22 weeks of pregnancy, when the spinal cord and brain are formed in the crumbs, and its movements become regular. If a woman has already given birth, then her uterine muscles are more stretched and tremors can be felt earlier - starting from 16-18 weeks. In addition, she is already familiar with these sensations and can recognize them more quickly.

Future mothers describe the first tremors of the baby in different ways: someone compares them to the fluttering of a butterfly, someone feels wave-like movements, pulsation, slight tickling or seething in the intestines. As the baby grows, his movements become more recognizable. By 24 weeks of pregnancy, they already begin to resemble the movements of a newborn. It is from this age that the baby communicates with her mother in the language of movements and, with her movements, sensitively reacts to changes in her emotional state: when the mother is nervous, worried, or, conversely, rejoices and laughs, the baby can move more actively or calm down for a while

The most active baby moves in the mother's stomach in the period from 24 to 32 weeks of pregnancy. By the time of childbirth, the motor activity of the crumbs decreases slightly, as it becomes crowded in the uterus.

An obstetrician-gynecologist will tell you how you can count the number of baby movements, and what number is considered normal. If you notice deviations from these indications, tell your doctor. Most likely, you will have to undergo additional examinations - listening to heart sounds, ultrasound or cardiotocography.

2. When not to worry

- still early . Some pregnant women start to panic when at 20 weeks they do not feel any movement inside them. If the last ultrasound did not reveal any abnormalities, there is no reason to worry. Wait: the baby can make itself felt at both 23 and 24 weeks. Some women, especially those who are expecting their first child, may only recognize movements at week 25, as they simply do not attach any importance to slight trembling or gurgling in the stomach. But in reality, you should listen to the stirring from the 30th week of pregnancy.

- baby sleeping . There is nothing surprising in the fact that you do not constantly feel fluttering inside the abdomen. The baby, like you, has its own regime, which provides for rest. It can calm down for 3-4 hours, and then make itself felt. And do not forget that all babies are different - some are active, others - behave calmer in their mother's tummy. If your belly is growing, and the obstetrician-gynecologist hears the baby's heartbeat during the examination, it means that the baby is growing and developing.

- all in mother . If the expectant mother leads an active lifestyle, works or plays sports, the child often adapts to this rhythm, which is why his tremors go unnoticed. Lie down and rest. You will see, the baby will immediately begin to kick.

For a period of 4-5 months, there are days when the baby has not made a single tangible push. In this case, its activity must be stimulated. Eat or drink a glass of milk, then lie down for an hour or two. The child will appreciate the calories offered and the calm state of the mother and, most likely, will begin to push.

Women with pronounced subcutaneous adipose tissue subjectively feel fetal movement to a lesser extent than thin women

3. What to look out for

• Shocks too weak . If earlier you regularly felt your baby, and now his tremors have become noticeably weaker or have completely stopped, this should alert you. An alarm signal is a complete cessation of motor activity for 12 hours or more. Seek immediate medical attention.
• Shocks too strong . If the baby kicks too violently, try changing the position in which you sit or lie - perhaps the baby is simply uncomfortable. If the baby does not let up and with its sharp and frequent movements causes you severe pain, consult a doctor. It was previously thought that too active fetal movements could be a sign of hypoxia, but at the moment this diagnosis can only be made by a doctor. The causes of hypoxia are various diseases that complicate pregnancy (anemia, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes mellitus, placental insufficiency, Rh conflict).

Active movements of the baby may be associated with an uncomfortable position for the child of the mother. It is not recommended to be in a state of lying on your back for a long time, as large vessels can be squeezed, which leads to impaired blood flow and the child reports this with increased motor activity. The most comfortable position for the mother is lying on her left side.

To assess the vital activity of the fetus, doctors use several methods:

• non-stress test or cardiotocography (CTG). This is the most objective and informative method for assessing the condition of a growing baby. Routinely, it is performed at the 34th week of pregnancy, but if necessary, it can be performed earlier. In a normal pregnancy, the study is carried out once a week. CTG is a recording of the fetal heart rate using a device - a fetal monitor. To perform the test, an ultrasound probe is attached to the woman's abdomen, and the baby's heartbeat is recorded on paper tape for 30 minutes, after which the resulting curve is evaluated. The condition of the baby is determined by the frequency and rhythm of heart contractions and changes in heartbeat depending on the movements. Unfavorable signs are: the absence of a heartbeat response or its slowdown in response to the fetus's own movements, a monotonous rhythm and a decrease in the heart rate below 110 beats per minute.

• If CTG receives a low score, then for a more detailed clarification of the child's condition, starting from the 3rd trimester, a fetal biophysical profile (BFP), including ultrasound and CTG, can be used. The following parameters are evaluated: cardiac activity, respiratory movements of the chest, muscle tone and the amount of amniotic fluid.

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