Normal amount of fetal movements in 12hr period

Hi everyone,

I'm very sick at the moment, and have had a marked decrease in fetal movements today.. Anyway, my GP made me call my obs, who said to wait over a 12 hour period (so another hr or so), and then head in for some monitoring if it hasn't picked up.

Normally i feel lots of little moving around movements, some hiccups each day, and at least 3 big movements (kick, punch, head moving, alien roll thing), per hour...

Today i have had a few small movments (hard to count as your not quite sure you felt them, or if the baby was moving cos you were, but not on its own IYKWIM?), and maybe 5 big movements all day (and they weren't very big at all of those big ones).

How many movements in normal for 30 weeks? Is it by what i feel is normal? And when the midwives ask me how many kicks/movements i've had, do they only mean the big ones, or do i could the small ones also??

Thanks.

My pg book says that you should feel 10 movts within an hour (small or big).

Hi Yael

I think the frustrating thing is what is 'normal' varies so much between women. I am currently doing a kick chart through the Baby Kick Alliance and it says 10 movements in a two hour period should be felt by a mother. If it is less that that then it is wise to head to the doc for some monitoring. Have you tried having a cold sweet drink or a walm bath to get bub moving?

There can be plenty of innocent explanations for decreases in movement such as position of bub, and my bub has had some really quiet days, but what is the most important is that if you as the mother feel that there has been a decrease in what is 'normal' for you, then I would be heading to the Doc just to put your mind at ease.

Hope this helps
Spring

my ob told me 10 movements within a 12hr period

as a guide...

you ought to feel one movement per hour
when midwives ask how many movements...we mean all of them

28-32 wks is when the baby is noticeably really active...lots of room to move and big enough to be felt by mum

when you are laying low so does your baby...some days when we are busy we feel less as we are less observant and also a busy mum rocks a baby to sleep...

if at any stage you are concerned or worried you have not felt your baby move...have a sweet drink (unless diabetic) as this gives the baby a sugar rush and boosts subsequent movement...if nothing or worried still, ring your DR or just pop in to the hospital to have a listen to your baby's heart beat

if in doubt Yael, act on it :)

hope you are feeling better

xx yogababy

You should feel 10 movements in 12 hours. count all movements. You can try taking a drink of icy cold water or OJ, drink it down fast, this usually causes the baby to move

Ok, i'm back from the hospital.

Monitoring was fine, they had trouble getting a good trace as the baby wouldn't stop jumping all over the place every time i had a coughing fit (which was every few mins). But the HR was good.. Baby was cheeky (just like it's brother..) tried to kick the monitoring pads off, was pretty spot on with its aim which was funny!

Thanks for the advice everyone. The baby was kicking earlier, just very reduced for what was 'normal' for my kids - why are they both so active? Gosh i'm going to have my handsful!

I feel shocking (severe chest infection), so i'm off to bed.. hopefully i'll sleep for like 2 days and wake up feeing better! I feel sicker than i have in a very long time!

Yael, I have been wondering how you went lastnight. Good to hear that all is fine with bub.
I hope you managed to get a decent nights sleep in and be sure to rest up today hun.

Take good care of you girl :hug:

Hi Yael
Was wondering how you got along - glad all is well with bubs! Rest up and take care of yourself.