What really counts as reduced movements?

[Mitzymarvel]

I’ve been feeling anxious the last few days about reduced movements. However, I’m not getting any less in quantity - they’re just not as ‘strong’.

However, I’ve already been in for monitoring a couple of times on this basis, and they’ve told me it’s just the baby being in a different position where the kicks feel less intense.

Knowing that, am I still supposed to go in?

I’m 30 weeks and so terrified something will be wrong with the baby that unless I’m getting really strong kicks it sends my anxiety into overdrive.

The midwife said I need to get to know my baby’s movements, but being pregnant for the first time, it’s so hard to know what is ok and what isn’t.

It doesn’t help when the stock response is always to just go in, when I suspect it’s mostly in my head. I feel such a weight of responsibility not to overlook anything, but at the same time don’t want to be a time waster.

Is going in every time I think movements are a bit weaker that day just feeding my anxiety?

Any change in movements - so movements reducing or not feeling the same. Honestly ring triage and go in. I have been in 3 times so far for reduced/changed movements and they have been lovely. My midwife actually sent me up on Tuesday and said that any change in movements needs to be checked out - my movements had been less defined. Always better to be safe than sorry x

Always, always go with your gut feeling. If you feel the movements are different, do not hesitate to go in and get checked.

also meant to add - it's so difficult to know what you should expect to feel when it's your first. This is my first and my placenta is anterior, I've felt silly going in sometimes however when I've thought about it I would rather go in than sit at home worrying and then miss something being wrong with baby. Xx

This was me at this gestation- I feel sometimes she just has quiet days

I don't and still don't have any pattern what so ever! This is my 2nd pregnancy but she me way less active than my first so I've now put it down to that.

I've been in 4 times for reduced movement since 20wks (20wks was more of a funny turn) but if I went in every time I was worried it would quad that if not more!

No one will ever say this though they will say go in

Yesterday I had a more quiet day but I still felt her but the best advice would be 'go with your gut' you will know when you think you need to call

I also have anterior placenta so put it down to that

I have days where she is crazy active and
Slower days

I have days where I don't feel her in the night at all until the morning (unlike my first who kept me awake all the time) today I've woken up with movements from early hours !

Hope this helps but if in doubt call in x

Thanks - this is how I feel. No one will risk saying not to go in, but if I went in every time I was worried it would be 2-3 times a week.

I can’t trust my gut as my anxiety makes me feel like the worst has happened all the time.

I’ve just told DH I might go in, and he can’t understand why at all. He says it’s not like I’m not getting movements and the midwife already explained that it’s because she’s in a different position.

This makes it so hard to know what to do.

I think I’m going to eat my breakfast and see if that stirs her into stronger movement. If not I’ll go in, but my logical brain knows that I’m just letting my anxiety rule me.

Honestly, just go in. It's not so much to check the baby, it's for your reassurance. You're not going to be OK until you know the baby is OK.

Do you have an idea of size? If on the smaller size, movements will be less noticeable.

Do you have ice cold drinks? This more often than not, stirs baby and gives reassurance. Not sure that eating alone will give you the desired response in terms of movement.

Emptying a full bladder in the morning (if you've not already done so in the night) might also help get baby to move.

I know exactly how you feel. I suffer from anxiety myself and it’s very hard to know what to do. I was pregnant last year and got myself in a tizz a few times for reduced movement and went in to be checked a few times. They would always say to come in if concerned but I would always feel silly and worry about wasting time, yet I’d feel worse if I just left it!! It was hard. Why don’t you just call them and explain your predicament? They might just give you advice rather than you needing to go in and at least then you know you’ve done something rather than letting yourself get more and more anxious.

Sorry but ice cold drinks etc should not be used for reassurance. You wouldn’t chuck a glass of cold water over an ill person and then assume they were fine if they responded.

OP if you’re worried, go in. You won’t be judged. It’s one of those situations where it lost likely is absolutely fine but the alternative just isn’t worth taking the risk for the sake of worrying about wasting someone’s time.

I could have written exactly this post. I felt like I was going crazy and I was in constantly with reduced movements because I was so anxious and the movements were something tangible I could focus on and come up with an unreasonable goal.

I would say to you, if you are that worried that you can't concentrate on anything else, go in for monitoring today.

Aside from that, I did used to find doing kick counts helped me (although they say not to any more), and if I were you I would mention to your midwife about your increased anxiety and see if you can get a referral to the perinatal mental health team.

Have the movements reduced further in strength since the last time you went in? If yes, definitely go in, if not, honestly, I wouldn't. Baby has settled into a new position and hence the feel of movements have changed. At 30 weeks gestation that is pretty common.

Again though, if they have gotten weaker since you were last seen, do go in.

Sometimes how you feel can change when they change position or engage.

Either way you should mention it to someone to be on the safe side 😉

I called in about reduced movements on Tuesday. I’m 26 weeks and I have covid.
I didn’t need to go in because some ice and juice got baby moving, but the midwife has been absolutely lovely and not made me feel like a nuisance at all. I have been very clearly told that if I’m worried I should ring. And that if after talking it through and following any at home advice I’m still worried (even if the midwife isn’t) they will let me come in and listen to the heart beat because they would rather do that then have me worry at home.

So, if in doubt, ring.

It's much better to go in a lot and everything be fine than to do nothing and a) sit there worrying or b) potentially miss a problem.

After 26 weeks I would go in for lack of movement.

you can try lying on your side, cold and fizzy drinks as this often get baby moving. But if you are still in any doubt, get yourself checked out. @

Hi OP

No one can tell you whether to go in or not because no one can feel the movements except you. This was my experience, though I’m really not sure that other people’s anecdotes are useful in this situation - it’s normal to worry about movements and I often did when pregnant but never went in, until I was 35 weeks pregnant. As I was lying in bed ready to go to sleep it occurred to me that the baby was being much much quieter than usual, and that he had been quite quiet all day. I was a bit perturbed but went to sleep.
I woke up in the night and felt more worried - got up and drank a glass of orange juice from the fridge and sat in the living room, but he still didn’t really move. The next morning I went in and I had him by Caesarean section the next day because it turned out I had pre eclampsia and my placenta was failing. SO, in my case, 1. It was absolutely the right thing to do to go in, but 2. I KNEW his movements were drastically different, it wasn’t the same feeling as vaguely wondering and worrying about them. I will say that my husband still thought I was being paranoid though, so again, it’s a situation in which nobody can tell you - you have to decide and trust yourself. I do know from the entire day I spent sitting in the unit being monitored that SO many women come in to get checked and many multiple times, so don’t worry about that.

@Mitzymarvel I know exactly how you feel and had this same conversation with my midwife last week at an appointment.

I am nearly 30 weeks and have never had a discernible pattern of movement, it's just completely random and sometimes I have days where the baby moves almost constantly and others where I barely get anything at all (yesterday!).

I explained this to the midwife and asked when I should be concerned and call under these circumstances - she said if I hadn't felt anything by the evening, or if I feel anxious about it myself. So I am trying to stick to this train of thought, as I said the same as you to the midwife - that if I tried to go by any pattern I'd literally be in getting checked every day as it's so random.

I also have anterior placenta like PP, so wondering if that makes a difference, but have also read that it shouldn't make too much difference by this point. I also can't seem to make the baby move by any means - drinks, sugar, wobbling belly etc. It does what it wants 🙈

Basically, the key advice from the midwife that stuck with me was that it's about what's normal for me, and for me it's normal to have quieter days in between more active ones. In fact, I often find the more active I am, the less active the baby is, so I feel a lot more when I'm sitting around working (today) whereas yesterday after I went swimming I didn't feel much at all.

It's all very stressful though and I am glad to be having 2 extra growth scans because I don't think I could handle going from 20 weeks to term without seeing the baby is OK on screen.

Thanks for your input everyone. I went in and had the monitoring for an hour, but even though the heartbeat sounded ok they said it didn’t meet the criteria to pass the test as there weren’t enough ‘accelerations’.

Midwife brought the dr around and he said he’s not necessarily concerned but we need to repeat it in a couple of hours, and they are also requesting a scan.

So now I’m sat waiting for the repeat monitoring feeling quite worried!

I guess it’s a good thing I trusted my gut after all!

Anyone else had this before?

Honestly, I'd say always trust your gut. Mummy intuition starts early 🥰
That being said I totally get your anxiety can get the better of you, if I ever think babies being a bit quiet I have a nice drink and something to eat and lay on my left side and tune into baby, they generally do move within a certain time frame but if your busy and moving alot it's almost like your rocking them to sleep 😂
This is my 3rd baby and this one likes a good wriggle in the car - I can't work out if he likes/dislikes the movement or with 2 toddlers to run around after its because it's one of the few times I'm sitting still x

I'm glad you went in to get checked. It's all so worrying isn't it? I've also been to hospital to get checked for reduced movements today. I'm 29+2.

I got really anxious last night because he didn't move much when I was lying down in bed like he usually does. And then I started overthinking it because of bumping myself with the freezer door the day before. My uncle came and checked last night (he used to be a paramedic and works in a&e now) and he listened to his heartbeat and moved my belly a bit and then he was moving.
But when I woke up this morning I was just in such a negative mindset and couldn't stop crying and feeling like something bad had happened. So went up to be checked and went on the monitor.

Thankfully everything is fine and they said he's probably just moved position and that's why I'm not feeling kicks as strong (I have an anterior placenta too) Heard his heartbeat and the monitor recorded lots of movement. And then I felt him move a few times too, so feeling much better now and I've also been referred to the Perinatal mental health team.

They were all so lovely up there and said it's always better to go in and get checked for peace of mind rather than be at home worrying. I hope your next monitoring goes well and your baby gets back to regular movements ❤️

Well done for getting checked, hopefully the scan etc can provide some reassurance but you're in the right place

@Mitzymarvel well done for getting checked !

In my experience seeing a doctor is always a good thing - same things happened to me
This morning, I was waiting on a DR also and They've ordered me a scan in a week (My issue was possible leak of fluid) and another in 2 wks but they are 99% sure it's not fluid so I feel as reassured as I can be !

Try not to worry I know easier said than done

I've been in around 10
Times it feels

The midwife said today they would rather you come in to be checked and if you get home for 5 mins and come back with another concern
That's ok

So it's not so much that it's more trying to control anxiety levels which is easier said than done

Anyway keep us updated x

You did the right thing going in OP. It’s not that people won’t ‘risk’ saying don’t go in, it’s that you SHOULD go in, it’s always worth it. Almost every single time baby will be fine, but it’s not worth the risk. Monitoring only tells you that you’re baby is fine that day, so if they have a second quiet day or a 20th quiet day it doesn’t mean something hasn’t changed. They would always rather see you than risk the alternative. I Hope they’re happy soon and let you go home

Had the second monitoring and this time she ‘passed’ the test. They seemed
satisfied with that but still booked me a scan for tomorrow just to be on the safe side. I’ll update again after that!

Even though it’s been a stressful day, I’m glad I went in. Thanks for the push everyone.

Glad the second monitoring went well and that's good that they're scanning you too x