The importance Of Reduced Fetal Movements And Movement Guidelines

[angelstardust]

Can I just add that it is extremely important that you get checked as soon as you feel something isn't quite right.

My son was moving happily at 7am, his CTG was within normal ranges at 8am.

at 9.30am my bump felt wrong and he stopped moving, the last movement I felt was at 8.30am on the CTG (I was in hospital with pre eclampsia at the time).

at 5pm I had a massive bleed.

at 6.47pm he was born with an agpar of 0 and resuscitated for 15 mins before going on a respirator.

at 9pm I was in a critical condition and my husband told to say goodbye as it didn't look like I'd make it.

3 days later I woke up.

2 weeks later we got home.

8 months later he was diagnosed with brain damage from his birth.

These things can happen so quickly and it's not just babies who die, mothers do too. I had an abruption and even though I was in hospital I was told everything was ok when I knew it wasn't.

 

[Natalia2010]

This is very helpful, thanks for posting.

on September 28th, 2002 my birthday, I woke up in a pool of blood on my bed. Not knowing the severity my husband rushed me to the ER where they set me on machine. I honestly thought at that time, baby was gone. I was 28 weeks pregnant and had no clue what was happening to me.

Low and behold there was the baby's heartbeat, a bit lower then normal, but nonetheless there. I kept bleeding, not while laying down but as soon as I stood up it would come....

2 hours after being admitted they decided to do a c-section through GA I was undiagnosed having placenta previa and gestational diabetes early on. It seemed my Dr. never looked at my test results for anything, nor did he have a license to perform a c-section. Luckily another Dr. saved me and baby's life that day. Turns out I had a partial placental abruption.

I wish I would have noticed the warning signs, I had no pain and no reason for concern prior to event though, but knowing what to look for is helpful.

I think it is a great idea to become familiar with your baby's movement. Sometimes these things have no pain at all, but perhaps your baby can keep you in tune with any issues.

This time around Im constantly aware of him, how he wakes up, when he's sleeping, his tossing kicks, his awake kicks and oddly yes I do recognize these things now, where I wouldn't have before.

Thanks for posting this.

 

[chief's wife]

thanks for the thread. maybe that was the cause of the loss of my third pregnancy .the placenta seperated from the baby by itself and i did not know until the baby started dropping out by itself at 7 and a half months. i taught i was going to die . the pain was terrible .the placenta was detached from me and only attached to the baby. the medical professionals did not explain the cause of that to me. since then i started ringing them almost everyday whenever i am pregnant and they understand my paranoia. even with this pregnancy i still do the same and i told them at the point of registration that i will ring them all the time in case they feel i am a bug the i will go straight to another hospital. so they know what to expect .better safe than sorry.

 

[Jox]

I wanted to share my story in the hope I can help someone else who may end up in my situation.

Firstly tho i really beg that anybody who feels their babys movements are less should get it check straight away...please dont just trust your own doppler at home as this will only tell you that your baby is alive...it wont tell you if there is a problem.

In December when i was about 33 weeks pregnant I noticed my babys kicks just stopped over night...i was getting movements but no kicks anymore... i thought it was strange but as this was my first pregnancy put it down to baby running out of room etc

On the days I was overly worried I would get my doppler out and all seemed fine. I even contacted my MW as i was abit worried and she told me that 'anything i classed as my baby moving was a movement' and i was getting loads so thought baby is just running out of room again.

Well, i posted a thread on here on 28th December in 3rd tri asking if any ones elses babys had just stopped kicking but still getting pushes etc?? had a few responses but thought i was being a paranoid first time mum....and didnt want to bother the MWs or Hosp.

Well on 30th December I was worried again and decided to get my doppler out just to 'double check' that all was ok.....after about 10 min I couldnt find babys HB. I told OH I was worried and decided to ring hosp who said come down and we will put a monitor on you.

Half hour of so later we were at the hospital in the waiting room, i felt soo stupid and paranoid 'knowing' all would be ok. not long after we went to be hooked up to the monitor...for 15 minutes 2 different MWs tried to find my babys HB and couldnt....I was 35+6. They took us in for a scan and I just remember the sonographer saying 'im sorry its bad news'

3 days later on 2nd January 2010 @ 10.30am my son was born fast asleep.

I play over and over in my mind that i should of done things differently and he would hopefully of been here BUT on several occasions over those 3 weeks I heard his HB. He was gradually dying a doppler cant detect that.

I have to live with the guilt every single day. The tests have all come back inconclusive - they have no idea why my son died. The consultant does think he had died about a week before...a whole week and I didnt know!!! what i thought was movements was in fact my baby moving in the waters that is all I had felt for about 3 weeks

I was still going by the 10 movements a day when in fact I have now been told that if YOUR babys routine changes then get it checked! I cant stress that enough!!

Kasper, I love you and am so very very sorry that I failed you

 

[meldmac]

Jox

Jox is right her experience was similar to mine. What I thought was movements were just Devin moving around in the waters. Please don't hesitate if you are at all concerned.

 

[jaybee]

I do not mean this disrespectfully to any ladies who have lost their babies. And I send you my heartfelt sympathy for everything you have had to go through.
However considering recent threads I wondered if an answer to the following question would be useful to ladies who are unsure about what they should/ shouldn't be feeling.
So because of this, would you ladies mind answering this for me, I fully understand if you would prefer not too, but speaking for myself...it is one of the questions when I think about fetal movements.
I hope that I ask it sensitively.

You mention that you were feeling your little angels rolling around rather than actual movement. However was this when you were moving around rather than sitting still? Did you still feel the movement when being still due to the rhythms of your body?

Thankyou.

 

[jess_smurf]

i couldnt see my bump move when he was rolling around when he was obviously on his way out, i went to consultant thursday morning told him i couldnt feel him moving listened to his HB and it was at 115bpm, and then they laughed saying he was rolling around, they could hear it on doppler, to this i told them i couldnt feel the rolling was sent on my merry way and then he stopped moving, everyone told me its normal for them to slow down but its not

the rolling felt like a full stomache of water that was glugging about

 

[Jox]

I personally mostly felt these movements when I was sat still, thats why at first I didnt understand when they told me it was him moving in the waters.

xxx

 

[jaybee]

Thankyou ladies.
Really appreciate your replies.
xxx

 

[babytots]

I just want to second what Jo,Jess and Mel said.

I lost my baby earlier on them then at 19 weeks. At 16 weeks my daughter was kicking about like a good one then movements seemed to calm down I felt movements but not kicks or somersaults like she had been doing. AT 17 weeks I had a private gender scan she had a heartbeat but she was so still at the scan at the time I figured she was just having quiet time and was sleeping. Just over 17 weeks the worry of lack of movements made me ring up my maternity unit who told me to go in. They checked me over and used a doppler to find her heartbeat the midwife found it (though I am sure it wasn't babies heartbeat as it wasn't fast enough) and sent me home.

19 weeks had a scan where I found out she had passed away. Whilst waiting for that scan I could have sworn I felt movement but my consultant later told me it would of been her moving in my waters. Probably the same movements I had felt for the week before that.

When she was born she measured 15 weeks. I hate myself everyday for not demanding them to put me on a proper ctg monitor to check her heartbeat. I hate myself for not noticing at that 17 week scan that she wasn't moving. I wish I had of used my doppler more to check on her

So please to anyone worried about movements do ring your m/w or hospital and do get checked out even if everythings ok its better to be safe then sorry I only wish I had done more for my princess. x

 

[btrapp84]

Good information- thanks!!

 

[Sunchyne]

Thank u for for sharing your experiences... i now feel it is ok to be known as the 'paranoid' mum..

xx

 

[dizzy65]

thanks this is really good to know

 

[xSnowBabiesx]

It seems that all Midwives and Doctors have different ideas on how you should "perform" your kick counts. I am almost 28 weeks now and my midwife told me that i really need to pay attention to my baby's movement especially since i have been having unexplained pains that i have ended up in the hospital over. She told me that i should: A) Drink and/or eat something and wait about an hour while laying down and trying to feel baby move. When baby first starts moving start counting and don't stop until you reach the end of the hour after the first movement. B) Lay down and relax when you know that your baby is most active. If within 2 hours of this most active period, you have not felt at least 10 kicks/punches/normal movements call right away.

I think that this would be a bit more accurate than trying to accrue 10 movements in 12 hours, because unless you are EXTREMELY active, you should be feeling far more than 10 in a half a day.

Hope this helps you all!

 

[amynorange]

I worry so much sometimes like when I read different things and stuff. I feel like I worry about something everyday!

I asked on here about fetal movements and stuff and I was told what I thought, which was you should feel at least 10 PER DAY. I had read somewhere that you should feel 10 when you baby is most active. But then I thought my baby hasnt really developed any kind of routine or anything so how would I know. This got me all worried. So is this right then 10 kicks/movements PER DAY like I thought at first?

Also is it actual kicks that I should be counting or just all what feel like tosses and turns and rummaging around?

I'm really worried now!

 

[Drazic<3]

It's 10 PER DAY hun, or in a 12 hour period. Every nudge, wiggle, kick, punch and turn counts as movement. The only thing which doesn't is hiccups

 

[xSnowBabiesx]

I'm sure that they tell you different in England than they do here. I was just throwing out there what my midwife told me, and it seems pretty standard to the area i live in, because that is how they teach people to do their Fetal kick counts here.

 

[Jox]

It's 10 PER DAY hun, or in a 12 hour period. Every nudge, wiggle, kick, punch and turn counts as movement. The only thing which doesn't is hiccups

No it isnt!!

What snowbabies said is right.

If your worried go and lay down with a cold drink and something sugary. You should feel 10 movements in 1 hour... if you dont... start again... cold drink and something sugary and count another hour... if after the 2 hours of trying you dont get 10 movements within an hour you call MW or labour ward....

So its not 10 movments every single hour... its 10 movements for every hour you are monitoring and trying to get bubs moving!!

Im the the UK.... Some MW's are still saying 10 a day but it is WRONG... Please read Chloe's Count the Kicks campaign from my signiture!!

xxx

 

[Drazic<3]

^
I can only say what my midwife told me. Obviously I am not going to disagree - I tend to go more with 'knowing baby' and what her movements are like because she will VERY rarely give me 10 movements during kick counts, but I am getting used to what is normal for her. Wasn't trying to mislead, just what I was told by midwife and by my consultant.

EDIT - Looking on that site, it truly shows the different information on there. The babycentre link doesn't recommend kick counts but getting used to babies patterns (not always easy to do) - Ask a mum says about kick counts, and NICE are against any fetal monitoring! It's so hard to know what to do for the best. Sorry if you felt I was being misleading at all, wasn't my intention.

 

[X.EMMA1984.X]

Good info here.

I have been in for monitoring 3 times this week due to reduced movement, i had one midwife tell me 10 movements in 12 hours, one tell me 10 movements in one period (i.e the hour your sat purposely counting) and another tell me basicaly anything that seems out of the ordinary. Just so confusing when your already worried. Had already seen this thread previously though and the good info on it, and have gone with my instnicts.

Anyway despite their conflicting info all of the midwives did agree on one thing, they would rather see 100 women a day whose babies go mad as soon as they are strapped to a monitor than have one woman sit at home and worry herself sick. Its what they are there for.x