Not felt baby for over an hour?

[ElizabethM49]

Hello,
I am 24+5. I have started kick counting and to be honest it is taking over my life. I've never been pregnant before and I'm obsessed with the idea that she is going to be still born. What would be reduced movements? If I went to the hospital every time I felt she hadn't moved in a while I would be there all day every day! When should I realistically worry? After an hour of no movement? Half an hour? I've already been up the hospital once this week and was tempted to go again yesterday but she perked up a bit in the evening.

Have a really cold drink or hold your breath for a few seconds

I'd ask your midwife, but am quite sure they wouldn't want to see you after an hour or two of no movements - your baby is allowed to have a nap!

I think it's more like 24 hours with no movements, or a longer term reduction in movements that is cause for concern, but the midwife will know. Better to phone them for reassurance than turn up at hospital

If you've tried all the tricks to get her moving and still nothing. Call the hospital.

At 24 weeks with your first baby I'd be amazed if you felt regular movements - the advice is that you shouldn't count the kicks / monitor movements until 28 weeks anyway.

Honestly? You need to take some deep breathes and calm down. You've got a long way to go and you will drive yourself completely bonkers if you do this for the next 16-18 weeks. They don't move constantly. They sleep so are still. You are busy and simply don't notice it. Be aware but it cannot take over your life.

Call your midwife if your worried at all

Babies move when they nap

Have a nice relaxing bath. . And sprinkle some cold water on your bump - worked every time I had a wobble.

You're supposed to monitor after 28 weeks and it should be about 10 kicks per 2 hours. Your baby is still very small at nearly 25 weeks and still has a lot of room to move about which is why you may not feel him/her all the time. Have a cold sugary drink and lie on your left side. Or eat a pink lady apple, that always got my DD moving

first thing you need to do is call your midwife. None of us here know your medical history.

What I think would be useful is to come up with an action plan with your midwife about what to do if you are feeling anxious like this. Eg how long you should leave it before seeking medical help, what is a normal pattern for feeling kicks.

In the meantime, I remember being advised when I was pregnant and was worried about this was to have a very cold drink and then lie on my left side and wait to feel kicks. The cold drink can wake the baby up.

Unless you are a high risk pregnancy (when you start to monitor from 24-26 weeks) advice is to monitor from 28 weeks.

If you are worried though call your maternity ward for advice - the number will be on your. Green notes

Agree that at 24 weeks it's unlikely your baby will have a regular pattern of movement.

I'm 35 weeks and had a day of reduced movement last week, I rang the hospital after 4 hours of barely feeling the baby and was told to have a cold fizzy drink and to lie on my left side for an hour,with no tv, phone, tablet or any distractions and just concentrate on feeling any movements.

You need to talk to your midwife about your anxiety because you have a long way to go and will drive yourself crazy

You sound very anxious. I was anxious in pregnancy too, but about other things. It can be a very worrying time.

It's perfectly normal not to feel your baby every hour. They sleep, they stay still. My DD used to react to music when she was in my bump. Having a ice cold drink is also supposed to get them moving. I would rarely feel her in the day time, she mostly kicked at night. It's really, honestly very normal.

You're not supposed to 'monitor', you're supposed to be aware. Counting kicks is no better for preventing stillbirth than a general awareness of normal movement patterns (which will not have established yet at 24 weeks). Counting kicks is a great way to drive yourself crazy though! You should only do it after eating some sugar, lying still and doing nothing for two hours. Unless you're doing this you'll get distracted and miss movements.

They really don't move constantly at 24 weeks

I have three children and was never advised to count kicks. Is this a new thing? I would guess that 24 or 48 hours with no kicks in the very late stages of pregnancy would be noteworthy. Ask your midwife for advice at your next appointment. In the meantime I suggest you try and busy yourself with something else or do something like yoga or meditation to help reduce your anxiety.

Gosh you've got such a long way to go if you are this anxious at this stage. Thank his I was allowed a lovely pregnancy with my first where I didn't worry about a thing naive

*god

An hour?!!! The baby will be asleep chill out!
I'd say more like 8 hours.

Thank you ladies. I have crippling anxiety and came off my medication in the summer before I realised I was pregnant and didn't want to go back on before I spoke to my midwife about them. Your words are comforting.

Also I think spending too much time on instagram over Christmas where I saw posts about stillborn babies scared the life out of me! As well as people who are around the same gestation period as me talking about how wriggly their babies are. She could be really wriggly for all I know, I have nothing to compare with.

I was advised that it's when there's a noticeable change in the movement, so whatever's considerably different for you needs a check. An hour is not a significant change, so not a worry. Have a look at the kicks count website, but i think you should also call your midwife tomorrow and explain about your anxiety; check what her advice is.

Thank you. I have the kick count app on my phone and I have read all the information on there :-)

When I was pregnant with DS3 recently I was advised to get familiar with his normal pattern of movement, rather than counting kicks specifically, and to contact midwives if his usual pattern changed.

So no kicks for an hour at a time of day where he wasn't usually very active would be less of a concern than no kicks for an hour at what would normally be his most active time of day, IYSWIM.

I agree it'd be worth talking to your midwife at your next appointment about how's best to monitor your baby's movements, how long you should leave things before going in to get checked and so on.

But in the meantime, if you're worried about the baby's movements, call the midwives at the hospital for advice. I went in a few times with DS1 & DS2 (anterior placentas so I couldn't always feel the move), and the midwives always said they'd rather check women out and it be a false alarm, than have someone not call them and not go in (e.g. because they didn't want to bother the midwives) when there was something going wrong.

I went in a week ago at 37 weeks for reduced movement. When I told the doctor I hadn't felt anything for about 4 hours she said 'oh so not very long then'