Wild movements then nothing at 40 weeks

[swiftt]

I think I’m going to call triage this morning but just wondered if anyone else had experienced this.

I’m 40+2. Baby has never had much of a pattern with movements. I’ve been in many times for reduced movements and my midwife keeps warning me that they will want to induce if I go in again - I know I can refuse this if it isn’t necessary. Baby has always been fine and no concerns medically. I just can’t seem to feel much of her movements when she’s in certain positions.

The past week I’ve been feeling a lot more movements at night. Last night was particularly excessive to the point where I was in pain and started timing contractions. I was struggling to tell the difference between baby’s wild movements and what could be contraction pain. This went on for a couple of hours then tailed off.

Been awake this morning for a while and have felt nothing from baby yet. I’m getting myself worried that she was in some sort of distress last night. I did mention to my midwife when I saw her this week that I had been experiencing more movement than usual and that’s when she again warned me about induction if I call triage about movements again. I will definitely call if I’m worried but it is a little off-putting to be told that. I should also add that I do have some anxiety around this pregnancy due to a previous loss, and that almost definitely feeds into my worries around movements. Whilst I’m 99% sure she’s fine, I can’t take 1% risk that she isn’t.

Basically, has anyone else had bouts of excessive movements at this stage? Am I right in getting checked out over it? Even if she does go back to normal movements this morning, I feel like a stint on the CTG at least would put my mind at ease. But the thought of having to fight against the recommendation of induction (based solely on episodes of reduced movements and not for a medical reason) is kind of stressing me out.

Call the midwife. Get it checked. Give birth. The UK has a far too high rate of stillbirth and it's not worth the risk.

You can ask for things step by step not full blown induction eg now you're 40+ weeks you could have a sweep.

Don’t wait any longer, call now.

Excessive movements followed by absent movement is something that means you will be seen immediately.

Think hard about declining the induction. Reduced movements at term is a significant risk factor for stillbirth

Call them now, noticing my baby's movements had nearly stopped ended up saving her life. Not saying this is the case for you but it's so important not to put off calling and going in.

Any change in movements is worth getting checked out, don't let the fear of induction put you off.

You can refuse the induction but ask for a section. It's wrong of the midwife to keep almost threatening you with an induction but it's definitely better to call and get checked.

Thanks everyone. As soon as I posted, she has started hiccuping! But I will still phone and get some advice. I need to put my mind at ease.

I'd def give them a ring. I was advised when I was pregnant that you shouldn't count hiccups as movement, due to it being a natural bodily function

I had wild movements one evening then lost some waters in the night with a slight trace meconium. This resulted in an induction having been on course for a water birth like my first delivery. I didn't particularly want an induction but it was fine and a much better experience than I'd expected.

Tell them you want to be monitored. Don’t be brushed off. In pre Covid times I’d say go to hospital now.

DD was lazy and never moved much, I was in for reduced movements many times. If you've tried all the tricks to get her moving at home and are feeling nothing you need to go in ASAP and don't let this induction fear play on your mind, you still have choices. Good luck OP.

(I was induced and it was absolutely fine).

Being induced or having a c-section is fine, the way your baby is born is not important in the overall scheme of things.

Hiccups don't count as they're reflexive movements. You need to go in to be checked.

Don't let the possibility of induction being suggested put you off calling - now, or any other time. I know many people share horror stories about being induced but if it helps at all, I was induced and it was totally fine - no cascade of interventions, I didn't need much by way of pain relief (gas and air, pretty much; and one lot of paracetamol and dihydrocodeine), and it didn't take days and days. They don't necessarily have to be a bad experience. I suspect you're worrying about all those kinds of things, which makes the midwife mentioning it sounds like a threat rather then information to help you be prepared.

Sorry, just for clarity it isn’t necessarily the induction itself that I’m scared of. If it was medically recommended, I would take it. My fear is that everything medically has been absolutely fine - I’ve had many growth scans, Doppler scans to check the placenta, and she’s always had a perfect CTG. It’s just that physically, I don’t feel the movements as much although they are happening - even when I can see them on an ultrasound, I often don’t feel most of them. So it’s really difficult to keep track of any changes in them. Of course, I could see how this could be classed as a medical issue as without being able to feel movements, how do I judge that things are normal? But I would much rather go down the route of trying other options first rather than being pushed into an induction out of pure protocol, if that makes any sense at all. If a doctor was to recommend induction today, I would absolutely consider it. My fear has probably come from constantly being warned or threatened with induction by my community midwife - no one else has actually mentioned it at this point.

Increased movements are also a cause for concern. The advice from Tommy’s is any change of movements. You need to phone now, she could be in distress.

@Persipan thank you, that’s really reassuring to hear. I have definitely been made to feel by my midwife a bit like it will be something that is forced on me and something to avoid. I am going to call them now. It’s just not worth the risk.

Please ring triage and get checked out. Yes you can decline induction if that's what you wish (I wouldn't with what you've said about reduced movements) but lots of movement followed by nothing is concerning and sometimes hiccuping along with all that could be signs of placenta deterioration.

Hi OP. As others have said, please don't wait a minute longer. Get on the phone to them right now. Don't wait any longer

That happened to me with my first. After several episodes of reduced movements which always resolved in triage (strapping on the monitors always woke her up) they recommended induction.
I was really against it as I'd been planning a home birth but as the consultant explained to me, I was at the point where baby was much safer out than in and they couldn't be sure at all she was ok in there.
I consented and it was a bit stressful as I didn't even have a hospital bag packed, so I'd definitely suggest you bring yours with you when you go in to be monitored today. Telling your husband what clothes you want at 2am from the ward is an ideal way to have the biggest bag in there yet still be wearing the same breastfeeding unfriendly T-shirt for three days.
The induction itself was fine. I had the pessary in at 2am, went for lots of walks around the hospital in the morning (pre covid), my waters went at maybe 5pm and I was in active labour from then. Baby was born at just gone midnight with no other interventions- this was really important to me as I'd been so afraid of the cascade of interventions.
I really wanted a water birth and normally they don't like to do this if you have reduced movements. They said as I really insisted if my monitoring was fine fine for the first hour or two that would change the risk assessment and they'd run the pool. However my baby's heart rate randomly kept dropping so it wasn't safe. There wasn't any reason for it once she was born - she'd maybe been holding the cord and having some good sleeps so it was the ideal outcome.
The thing for me though as my consultant said was once you get past 40 weeks, once there is any suggestion of any issue it's better to just get them out. Once you have them in your arms you can know they are ok instead of relying on dopplers, ctg etc.
Good luck when you go in and especially if you have your baby today, either way you are in good hands xxx

I do understand why it’s not nice to be “threatened” with induction but after wild thrashing around overnight which is out of character for your baby you really must call and ask to be checked out. It’s absolutely not worth the risk of ignoring it.

Thanks everyone. I have phoned and am on my way to the unit to get checked over on the monitor.

Well done! Keep us updated.

Any change at this point needs to be looked at. I know you don't want to be induced, but more than that you also want to take a healthy baby home with you. Keep a sense of perspective on that.

Good luck @swiftt I hope everything goes smoothly.