Dear Mummies-to-be, if you're worried about reduced movements, please get checked out....

[AnnaMariaWhiskers]

I thought I was just being paranoid and wasting everyone's time when I went in for monitoring the day before my due date (back in October). But I'm so glad I did. My baby was seriously ill and was immediately delivered by c-section. Despite having to spend nearly a month in intensive care & special care, he is now doing well.
I don't mean to scare anybody, I just want to urge you to take action if you have any concerns about reduced movements. Like me, it could save your baby's life.

All the best with your pregnancies x

thank you for this. so glad you and baby are well :) i will definitely remember this

At our antenatal class the midwife leading it was very clear about being aware of baby's movements and that baby should still be moving right up to (and during) birth. She said we're better off getting checked and finding out it was nothing than leaving it.

Jenny- I totally agree. 'Better safe than sorry' is my new motto for everything now! I have a 2 year old, and keeping track of baby's movements while wrangling a toddler all day was difficult, but worth it.
Sbear- just wanted to share my story as it might make a difference to someone else, so thank you for the encouragement!

So pleased your baby is ok Anna, such an important message to share. I was seen for reduced movements at around 35 weeks. Everything was fine but midwives never for one minute made me think I was wasting their time. Better a false alarm that missing something important.

Thank you for sharing your experience with us Anna. I'm a natural worrier but will bear your story in mind as this pregnancy continues.

Very glad to you hear you and DS are well.

Thank you Anna for sharing your story, I'm so glad your little one is doing well. Wishing you and your family a bright n happy future. X

anna thank you for sharing your experience and I'm glad your LO is ok. I wonder if you could tell me if you 'counted' kicks or tracked mivement patterns? Thanks again for sharing

Good advice! I'm glad your baby is doing well op.
I saw the midwives for reduced movements at 33 weeks, typically he moved the moment the midwife touched my belly. We had a laugh about it and she told me I did the right thing!
We went again when I was in early labour, it ended up being that babies heart beat was dropping dangerously low every time I had a contraction! So it was lucky we went in.

Anna, I'm so pleased your baby is now ok, it must be such a relief for you.

Can I add that you should get checked out for a change in movements, not just reduced movements. Very increased movements can also indicate distress.

Thanks all. Appreciate your kind words.

M33r - did a bit of both counting/tracking. I kind of felt the strength of movements was decreasing over a couple of days then one evening I noticed there wasn't much movement when there usually was, and subsequent movement s felt weak. That's when I was concerned.

Quietly suggests - it was a fetal-maternal hemorrage, basically this:
www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2552508/Ghost-baby-suffered-rare-condition-meant-blood-drained-body-survives-receiving-transfusion.html

My baby had only lost about 50% of his blood, but needed to be resuscitated as well as have a transfusion. He had cooling therapy and was in intensive care for 2 weeks then special care for a further 10 days.

His chances looked slim, but I'm a Christian and asked a few friends to pray and within a few hours people on 5 continents (who I didn't even know!) were praying for him, so he really is a miracle baby and I feel truly blessed to have him :)

For the rec

Yes!
Though worth saying most babies don't have a pattern until 24 weeks +.
I've seen threads where people have worried about reduced movement at 18 weeks ... when there's no pattern.
A good way of checking patterns is the count the kicks app or wristband.

Anna, Im so pleased that you had a good outcome. I know what a scary time you must have had as this happened to me in 2013. My DS was born with a hb level of 2, at 27+3weeks. I noticed reduced movement, went in to get checked out and had him that eve by emcs. He had an 87ml transfusion, which was more blood per kilo than he should have had at that gestation. He was in NICU for 10 weeks. He is now 17months and is fine, but we had a rough ride. It is a freak thing, and can be hard to come to terms with. There is a FMH page on fb, dont know whether you have found it yet. Hope all continues to progress well with your liitle man.

#savinglittlelives

Good advice everyone!

Signorita - interesting to hear your experience, and glad your little one is doing well. I haven't been able to find that Facebook page, I'd be very grateful if you could post a link. Thanks.

Anna

Try this: www.facebook.com/groups/1416666208582299/ and www.facebook.com/groups/707798329242209/

I don't know if this will work for you, as they are closed pages due to the nature of FMH, and in particular the high mortality rate of the condition. It seems it's something that happens more often in later pregnancy. I have yet to come across anybody who had it as early as me, and there is a dearth of information about it unless you particularly enjoy reading through medical tracts!

My mind still boggles at it. They picked up anaemia on the scan the day I went in, but the consultant thought it was probably due to me having a virus and not knowing about it. He was all set to send me down to London for an intra-uterine transfusion, but it seems that in consultation with his other on-call consultant (it was a weekend) and she said "make sure you check for FMH". Then when my bloods came back I was whisked up to theatre pdq! The next day, the original consultant came round and said "you were very lucky. If you had come in earlier, there wouldn't have been anything wrong, and if you were any later, your baby would have died". It messes with my head quite a lot, but like you, we're Christian, and I'm convinced in the power of prayer!

Sending you lots of positive vibes, and hope you're now enjoying motherhood with your wee man.

Thanks for the link signorita thats great. I've been able to join the group and it's so helpful already. Interesting to hear more of your story too as there aren't many people who share this experience. I'm slowly beginning to piece together what happened to us and should be having an appointment with the obstetrician soon to go through the notes. The 'knife-edgeness' of it all makes me shiver, but most of the time i don't think about it! My little boy is lovely and surprisingly content considering all he went through. He's got some hearing loss, but hoping and praying there are no further complications, and he seems completely fine x