Many pregnant mothers know that they should count fetal movements during pregnancy, but what do they look like? When to start counting? How to count? Is the number of fetal movements counted normal? What should I do if the fetal movement is not normal? There are a number of questions about fetal movement, we are here to answer them one by one!
First, the first acquaintance of fetal movement.
The appearance of fetal movement reflects the fetal baby’s neuromuscular development to a certain extent. In 12 weeks of pregnancy, the fetal baby’s limbs can move, but because the fetal baby is still too young, pregnant mothers simply can not feel. As the baby continues to grow and develop, the little one starts to reach and kick inside the uterus, impacting the uterine wall and forming the fetal movement that the pregnant mother can feel.
The earliest perceptible fetal movement is around 16-20 weeks of pregnancy, and pregnant mothers who have had babies before will feel it a little earlier than those who are pregnant for the first time. However, the perception of fetal movement is also affected by the thickness of the mother’s abdominal wall fat, whether the placenta is located in the front wall of the uterus, as well as self-perception differences, anyway, individual differences!
Second, the classification of fetal movement (three kinds).
1, the whole body movement, such as turning over, turn 1 circle.
2, local body movement: stretching arms, kicking legs.
3, fetal baby hiccups, this is a regular movement, about 2-3 seconds once, the duration of 2-5 minutes, sometimes last 10-20 minutes (this does not belong to the pregnant mother counting range of fetal movement). The specific manifestation is a hopping and bouncing, and when you touch it with your hand in the beating place, it will bounce and bounce, which is a different feeling from other fetal movements. Scientists believe that the hiccups of the fetal baby may be an early manifestation of the breastfeeding action. The movement of the baby sucking on the breast is very similar to hiccups, and the vocal chambers close during the muscle movement to prevent milk from entering the lungs.
What does fetal movement feel like?
Many pregnant mothers say that the fetal movement is initially like a small fish swimming, and as the pregnancy week increases, the fetal movement takes different forms such as punching and kicking, trembling and rolling. When the fetal movement is intense, the whole belly of the pregnant mother will sway to the rhythm of the baby.
At about 32 weeks, fetal movement reaches its peak intensity and frequency, and gradually becomes regular. The fetal movement in the late pregnancy due to the relative reduction of amniotic fluid and space will be somewhat changed in form, but the number of fetal movement is generally not significantly reduced.
4. Off-topic: a rumor
The rumor is that “more fetal movements are male babies and less fetal movements are female babies”.
The author is here to seriously and responsibly tell you: this rumor is not any scientific basis! The number of fetal movements can only indicate the degree of activity of the baby in the belly, and gender does not have any relationship!
Five, the significance of fetal movement.
The normal fetal movement indicates that the placenta is functioning well, the oxygen and nutrients delivered to the fetal baby are sufficient, the fetal baby is in good condition in the womb and can move happily.
In case of intrauterine hypoxia, due to physiological protection mechanism, fetal baby will reduce limb activity to reduce oxygen consumption, so fetal movement can be used as an important signal to indicate the safety of the little one in the uterus.
This is especially important after the 28th week of pregnancy, when the baby has the ability to survive outside the uterus, and if the lack of oxygen is detected in time, the baby can be saved by delivering it as soon as possible.
According to statistics, about 55% of pregnant mothers who have stillbirths have felt the process of reduced fetal movement before diagnosis.
The most important thing: the practical guide to counting fetal movements
It is recommended that pregnant mothers fix a more convenient time every day after 28 weeks to carefully perceive and count the fetal movements. The form and frequency of fetal movement varies from person to person, usually there will be slightly more fetal movement in the afternoon or evening. The fetal baby has a sleep-wake cycle of 20-40 minutes, and it is normal that the fetal movement during the sleep period may be reduced or even absent.
There is no absolute standard of normal fetal movement, and even the routine is not uniform from country to country. Normal fetal movement: >10 times in 2 hours. If it is less than 10 times in two hours or reduced by 50%, it indicates the possibility of fetal baby’s lack of oxygen, and you should consult a doctor for further judgment.
1.How to count one fetal movement?
This is a somewhat subjective question, pregnant mothers can not count all the fetal movements in any case. A foreign study reported that most pregnant mothers could only perceive about one-third of the actual fetal movements when they performed fetal ultrasound monitoring while counting fetal movements.
It is generally accepted that continuous fetal movements such as tremors are counted as one. Any other fetal movement should be counted as one, not all within 5 minutes.
2, the characteristics of various fetal movements.
The fetal movement caused by whole body movement usually lasts 3~30 seconds. If the baby feels that the whole body movement is too long and can’t hold on, it may do some body movement instead: a left hook, then a right kick. This caused fetal movement usually lasts only 1~15 seconds. The lazier ones may just stretch their legs and be done with it, in less than 1 second. As for small, effortless movements like yawning and swallowing amniotic fluid, it is difficult for pregnant mothers to notice. In short, different movements have different durations and vary in intensity.
At present, many places recommend a 12-hour fetal movement count: count one hour in the morning, one hour in the afternoon and one hour in the evening, and multiply the three counts by four to get the 12-hour fetal movement count. If the pregnant mother really can’t do it, she should at least count the fetal movement at the same time every day for 2 hours each time.
The mother should urinate before counting the fetal movements and keep her mood happy. Choose a quiet environment and a comfortable position, such as lying on the left side, you can put your hands on the abdominal wall to concentrate on perception.
3.Fetal movement influence factors.
The fetal baby has its own biological clock, generally the little one is less active in the morning, gradually increasing after noon, and the fetal movement is more active from 18 to 22 o’clock. It is recommended to try to choose a relatively active time to record fetal movement.
Fetal movement is also influenced by the pregnant mother’s movement, posture, emotion, eating as well as sound, light and touching the abdomen. It is not very meaningful to use one hour of fetal movement to speculate the fetal movement of 1 day, it is more valuable to compare the fetal movement of the same time period on different days.
If your baby likes to move every day after dinner, but suddenly doesn’t move much one day, you should be alerted to the mother.
4. Frequent and reduced fetal movements are abnormal.
If the fetal baby can’t get enough oxygen and nutrition in the mother’s body, in the early stage of oxygen deficiency, it will show restlessness and fetal movement will increase obviously. When the lack of oxygen is aggravated, the fetal movement will slowly decrease and weaken, or even disappear, and the disappearance of fetal movement indicates that the baby’s life has been threatened.
Abnormal fetal movement is also reflected in the form and position of fetal movement. For example, strong, continuous pushing and kicking, or very weak fetal movements are not normal.
The standard of abnormality: fetal movement less than 10 times in 2 hours, or 50% less than usual, you should seek help from the doctor in time!
5, listening to the fetal heart cannot replace counting fetal movements.
There are various brands of home fetal heart monitors on the market, and hearing the baby’s heartbeat through the fetal heart monitor brings a lot of joy to the parents-to-be. But the presence of the fetal heart can only be used as a signal of the fetal baby’s instantaneous survival. It cannot indicate the reserve capacity of the fetus in the womb (whether it is hypoxic or not) unless there is a significant increase or decrease in fetal heart rate.
Counting fetal movements is not very technical, but it requires the pregnant mother to have enough attention and love for her fetal baby. The so-called heart-to-heart and telepathy all depend on the mother’s care and patience! Finally, once again: once you find that the fetal movement is obviously abnormal, you should consult a doctor as soon as possible, rather than wait until the next day!