Baby inactive day to day - health problem post birth??

[Bluebellysmell]

Currenrly 31+ weeks pregnant, my baby doesn't seem very active generally, and hasn't, I'm wondering if this is a sign of a problem?

I hear people talk about baby rolling, I don't think it ever has, same position each scan.

I hear people mentioning being unable to sleep due to movement but I still have the kind of flutters I had around 22 weeks.

I've only seen my stomach move twice, then it was barely moving, not like videos I've seen from friends where the baby looks like it's trying to break out of there!!

I have a posterior placenta, so not that.

HCP's won't speculate, but this doesn't sound right does it? Google isn't much help but from a few things I have found it might indicate something is wrong.

Please help

Some babies are more active than others. My two didn’t move about much and are perfectly fine.

Don’t read Doctor Google either. Speak to your midwife.

I’m sure sometimes this can be a problem, and it’s always worth talking to your midwife about (if the movements change / reduce at all then it’s worth ringing the midwife immediately).

That said, my pregnancy was very similar. I assumed I was going to have a chilled out, sleepy baby. She came out so strong and enormous! I think (based on some things that happened during labour) that I just have a womb that can’t feel much! I did get movements I could feel from the outside though (often without being able to feel them from the inside!)

It's not reduced movements, baby has just never been that active.

Midwife won't comment.

Anecdotal evidence and comments do seem to link movements, or lack of, with health issue that show up post birth.

Neither of my two were very active. I was certainly never kept awake due to movement. The first was an anterior placenta so I thought that was the reason but the second wasn't and was just the same. Definitely get it checked though to reassure yourself.

Don't Google, you will just make yourself anxious. If concerned, keep bringing it up at appointments. Anecdotally, my second DC was much less active during pregnancy than my first. I had 3 scans and she didn't move during any of them. She was perfectly healthy (although she has turned out to be a less-active child than her sibling too).

Obviously speak to your midwife if you have concerns about movement but my pregnancy was very similar. Only felt slight movements and nowhere near as much as others. I felt a lot more in the last few weeks and there was a definite pattern. I had an anterior placenta so that muffled a lot of the movements. My dd was born perfectly healthy and very strong, she's now 5 months and incredibly active, rolling all over the place and throwing herself around a lot!

Babies vary a lot. My DC1 hardly ever moved in utero whereas DC2 moved all the time!
If your hcps are happy it might be entirely ok.
A lot depends on your activity; do you have a quiet opportunity to tune in ? The position of the placenta can also be muffling.

All babies are different...my first was a very gentle baby in the womb, never kept me awake at night, never particularly uncomfortable.

Currently 40+5 with second and this baby is beating me black and blue inside! Had me up for hours last night and thought he was going to burst through my skin!

Try not to worry, as long as the movements are normal for your baby, then your baby is fine.

Adding anecdotal evidence to the other side of the debate - my womb-quiet baby crawled at 5 months and walked at 9. No health issues revealed themselves yet.