One of the great excitements of pregnancy is feeling your baby move but for most women, this doesn't usually start to be noticeable until about five months. At first it may well just be the occasional fluttering sensation but eventually you will feel the growing baby make more signifcant motions.
Whilst some mums-to-be never notice a regular pattern to their baby's movements, others get used to the reassuring prods and twitches they feel at certain times each day.
Changes your baby's movement patterns
Up until about 28 weeks, your baby's movements are not so likely to be regular in pattern. If one day you feel all kinds of kicks and the next day none at all, this is not neccessarily a cause for concern.
In the following few weeks (when the fetus is large enough to be easily felt but not so big that movement has become limited, as it does in the last two months), you may well get to know your baby's habits. Your baby's movement is likely to be affected by your own activity: if you are walking or moving around during the day, then the motion may well lull your baby to sleep; after you have eaten the changes to your blood sugar levels may cause an energy boost in your baby too; if you are laying still for a nap or at bedtime not only are you more aware of smaller movements but your baby may well feel the need to stretch out himself!
Changes to movement can be normal
All mothers and their babies are different so try not to compare your experience with that of a friend who is pregnant. You might feel lots of movement or not very much at all. This may well change from one pregnancy to the next if you are having a second or third child.
Ideally, by about 24 weeks you should be aware of some movement day to day, though try not to get too obsessive about it.
Keeping tabs on movement
By about the 28th week, you should keep at least a casual check on your baby's movements. If you
are confident that you can feel the baby move on what has become to you a regular basis, then this
is probably fine.
If you prefer to put your mind at rest by doing a more measured check or because you sense that the
movement has markedly slowed down or stopped, then you can try the following:
-
Have something to eat Women often find that an energy rush after eating rouses their
baby.
-
Time movements Time how long it takes for you to feel ten
movements (no matter how small). If you can discern ten movements in an hour, you have nothing to
worry about. If you don't think you have reached that number, have something to eat or drink and
try to find somewhere you can sit or rest quietly so you can pay a little more attention to what's going on in your womb. You should be able to count ten movements in about an hour at this second attempt, but if not, it might be worth
contacting your midwife, midwife team or doctor.
If you have no other reason to be concerned, don't worry even if you haven't managed to time ten discernable movements. Just get it checked out.
All babies in the womb have periods where
they will rest more, and, while keeping a eye on periods of inactivity is a good idea, they are
rarely a sign of a serious problem.
Some people also like to try using a doppler when Monitoring Fetal Movements.
