Movements at 23 weeks

[BuffaloCauliflower]

How regular/often are your baby’s movements at 23 weeks? I’ve had a couple of days where he seems really busy all day, then some really quiet days. He’s been pretty regularly moving first thing in the morning all week, then today he didn’t move for ages until I did the full works of ice cold drink, lying still, prodding... after hours of quiet. I’ve only had a few kicks since. The movements have felt smaller in general as well, could this be the angle he’s at? My placenta is posterior and I’ve been feeling him for around 3 weeks.
I know it’s early for regularity but hard not to worry when he seems much calmer today , especially when I’ve been feeling him so much all week.

@sel2223 sounds exactly like my baba. I'm currently 35+3 and from quite early on he had a pattern but from 28 weeks which is when they say your baby should usually have more of a pattern is when he decided to change! Again like you he does have regular sorts of movements in the morning and evening but throughout the day it can vary from one day to the next which is why I've been in about 6 times now for reduced movements and only this morning I have rung up my MAU as he decided to party until 2.30am this morning but all is back to normal now, these babies do know how to keep us on our toes! My local womens hospital where I go also have the same protocol for reduced movements which is to lie on your left side for a couple of hours, drink something cold and have something sweet to eat which is why I picked up on one of the comments where the poster said not to listen to that advice, obviously you get to know your baby and if you are worried then do call but I just wanted to know why she would say that?

@Bellsx Tommy’s the baby loss charity are the ones who say that advice is outdated and are trying to get midwives to stop giving it, as that two/theres hours of waiting can be the difference between baby surviving or not if something is wrong. Their research is pretty clear that any noticeable change in movements should be checked

Two/three hours*

@BuffaloCauliflower I do see where Tommy's are coming from but I also see the benefit of being able to try something at home to put your kind at rest.

I guess a big part of it is learning your own baby as time goes on and trusting your instincts.

I've been in a couple of times but if it hadn't of been for the cold drink thing, I'd probably have been in for monitoring over 10 times which isn't ideal either. In this current climate, i don't want to be going to hospitals and exposing me and baby to covid anymore than I have to.

Mind, my hospital only say to try for an hour, not 2 or 3.

@sel2223 based on my experience of hospitals during this they’re safer than most other places when it comes to likely infection transmission. I think at the moment he’s not moving consistently enough for an hour to be a deciding factor or not. Entirely normal of course at this stage.

Today he’s woken up during my pregnancy yoga and wriggled all through the guided meditation so hopefully I can park my anxiety for a bit.

@BuffaloCauliflower there's no right or wrong answer, we have to just decide what's best for us and our babies.

I personally don't want to be back and forwards to hospital everytime my baby has a quiet day as I know that's pretty normal for her to have quiet days then livelier days....I'd never be away from the place haha. If I can get a few kicks with a cold drink then that reassures me and, on the odd occasion that hasn't worked, that's when I go in.

Other women go in immediately at the first sign of any change and that's OK too.

We're all just doing what we think is best x

@sel2223 I didn’t say I’d want to be ‘back and forth every time my baby had a quiet day’. I said I wouldn’t be worried about Covid going into a hospital, which you seemed to think was a concern. Safer to be in a maternity wing than Tesco’s when it comes to that

@BuffaloCauliflower sorry, my.post wasn't meant to sound like a dig at you, i was just talking about myself and my own personal way of dealing with the movements issue with a baby who has quiet days sometimes.

I also don't want to get into a debate about covid as we all have different views on that too 😊

@BuffaloCauliflower I'm a ftm and 23 weeks now with a little girl 🤗 I've had these worries too as even though I've only been feeling her movements for about 3 weeks, she does seem to have certain patterns already - kicks first thing in the morning in bed, then around meal times, especially after (!) and often again in the evening when going to sleep. I've had one or two days when she's been quieter than normal too, not kicking after food and such like. It can be worrying but everything I've read says they just don't get regular patterns of movement til later on. However, my midwives are lovely and I would phone if genuinely concerned.

Just to say I had an over the phone appointment with my midwife today and spoke about what happens if I experience reduced movement and the advise is still the same about drinking/eating and if nothing happens then to ring the hospital to be seen xx

Tommy’s the baby loss charity are the ones who say that advice is outdated and are trying to get midwives to stop giving it, as that two/theres hours of waiting can be the difference between baby surviving or not if something is wrong. Their research is pretty clear that any noticeable change in movements should be checked

Tommy's are a really influential charity, but their advice actually isn't in line with the best available evidence. There was a really big study called the AFFIRM trial. It actually showed that a package of care based on fetal movement awareness, did NOT reduce stillbirths. But it did raise the risk of babies going to the NICU and raised the rate of CS and induction. Essentially it showed that overemphasis on fetal movement may actually be harmful to babies.

https://www.obgproject.com/2018/11/02/the-affirm-trial-does-maternal-awareness-of-fetal-movement-counts-reduce-stillbirth-risk/

The trouble is that medics are still trying to figure out what will reduce the rate of stillbirth, so they continue emphasising fetal movement for lack of anything else.

Tommy's did address the study by giving it a more positive spin: https://www.tommys.org/our-organisation/about-us/charity-news/results-affirm-trial-fetal-movements-and-stillbirth

I do totally agree that it is outdated to say eat something sweet or have a cold drink though. The baby shouldn't have to be "coaxed" to move!

The baby shouldn't have to be "coaxed" to move!

For me, it's more about getting baby to shift into a different position. Babies are so teeny tiny at 23 weeks,, they can tuck up really small and hide which makes a massive difference to what you can feel.
I find a cold drink or something sugary would make her stretch out a bit and change positions so then I could feel her as normal after that.
It's definitely worked for me and keeps my anxiety at bay.
I've still been in a few times for reduced movements so I'm still an advocate for getting checked out of you need to but this stops me having to go in every other day!