How long does it take for a baby to move?

Fetal movements usually appear at 18-20 weeks for primiparous women and at 16-18 weeks for menstruating women. The fetal heartbeat can be seen at 6-8 weeks during the ultrasound examination, but it takes about 18 weeks for the fetal movement to be palpated in the pregnant woman’s abdomen or felt by the pregnant woman herself. Some pregnant women with a thin abdominal fat layer may experience fetal movement earlier. On the contrary, if the fetal movement is not obvious in pregnant women with thick abdominal fat, the pregnant women will feel the fetal movement relatively late. The frequency of fetal movement will gradually increase as the gestational weeks increase. 28-34 weeks is when there is more amniotic fluid and the fetus moves more, so the fetal movement is obvious; after 34 weeks, the fetus gradually increases in size and the amniotic fluid decreases, so the number of fetal movements may decrease. In conclusion, it is normal for pregnant women to have fetal movement. If there is no fetal movement for a long time or the number of fetal movement suddenly decreases, you should go to the obstetrics and gynecology department of the hospital for examination to exclude abnormalities.