Midwife made me worry.....

[Chelle1986]

Had midwife appointment last friday at which all was fine with baby. Am 27 weeks now and she asked me if I was feeling baby move every day and I said yes.

She then went on to say that if I don't feel him move for longer than like 7 hours I should be calling the labour ward. Is this the right amount of time. She also said if I'm not feeling him then I should take myself away to lie down and concentrate - this only makes him move less! And how the hell am I supposed to do this when I work full time - "sorry boss - just off for a lie down to see if I get a kick"!

She's just made me really paranoid about feeling movement - and when I'm being paranoid I feel him less - for example its 12pm now and I haven't felt hardly anything since about half 6am.

Sorry for the rant - just so panicky now!

Also - one day might be really strong kicks and rolls - the next just really light taps that I can hardly feel - is this yet another thing to worry about! I feel like all I do is panic!

C.x

The advice from my midwife & doctor is that from around 28 weeks I should be feeling 10 movements in 10 hours and if I don't I must call the midwife.

Some things I've heard of to get more movement is try having something sugary to eat and try drinking a very cold drink.

See that sounds better - I pretty much always feel at least 10 in 10 hours - but then that doesn't seem like much?

God I feel like such a moan-arse!! But you know when someone just says something that makes you walk round with your head up ur bum and thingk about nothing else!

Dont panic you will get to know your own babys routine....27 weeks is still a bit up and down for movements and it wasnt till a bit later that I started to know when baby would be most active. I am the same as you though, sometimes it isnt until someone asks me "have you felt baby move today" that I think about it as i have been busy all day, but my midwife said to me that it is quite normal and baby has probably been moving but you dont notice it cos your not sitting still or got other things on your mind.
I think that is why they say, go and lay down for a bit if you are worried, as you can concentrate on whether you can feel movements. Its often at these times when im panicking and then all of a sudden baby goes mental and does (what feels like) cartwheels and then i feel a bit silly!

Also, japhrimel is right, if you are ever REALLY worried and you cant feel anything, drink something cold or eat something sweet, normally gets baby going and gives you a bit of reassurance.

Chelle I'm the same as you - 27wks - and some days the baby seems like it is goign crackers in there, other days I hardly feel a thing... Hopefully will settle down soon I'm trying not to get too pregnancy paranoid!

I'm at exactly th same stage too. I sometimes think I haven't felt anything for ages, to be honest you might not be noticing those subtle movements because you are busy at work. TBH why doesn't she let you use your common sense, you'd be pretty quick to pick up lack of movement if that were the case I think.

I'm 28 weeks and felt I had an (almost) worryingly active baby bouncing around hour after hour, however in wk 27 baby went all quiet for several days and I got worried but I wonder if she had moved position and I couldn't feel baby so much. It seem there is worry if they move lots and worry if they don't move much!

I now think that perhaps quiet days/periods and active days/periods is quite normal for me so why not for baby?

I think where your placenta is depends of how much movement you feel it should be noted on your 20 week scan notes, if placenta is at the back then you have nothing much to cushion movements, but if at the front then...you do.

A really long ice cold drink and lying on your side might wake little one up if you are worrying.

Can I recommend the Jacobs Adder to all you ladies?

www.jacobsadder.co.uk/

A nice easy way to keep track of movements. It only goes up to 10, but I used to then go back to the beginning and start again.

However, I would also say that regardless of your own babys pattern, always query it with someone if you don't feel at least 10 periods of movement in 10 hours.

I had a MW appt yesterday - am 26.5 weeks. She asked about movement and I said that some days I feel a lot and others not very much at all. She said that this was perfectly normal and OK. Nothing about having to call the labour ward if things go quiet. I agree that the location of your placenta can make a difference - mine is anterior and I think this means that it's harder to feel movement?

anterior placenta (at front) means you feel less movement - you feel it mostly at the pubic bone area (in my case anyway!), so it can depend on that too. Probably a reduction in the normal (for your pregnancy) is more concerning than having a certain number each day.

Also- don't forget, baby sleeps for about 18 hours a day and is awake for about 6 hours a day, and you are not going to get many movenents when he/she is asleep.

Sounds like your midwife, though having the right intentions, has put things across to you in a worrying rather than a reasuring way, but she probably had no idea she's done that!

Sounds like an unnecessary worry to me! Who actually has the time or inclination to count how many movements they feel a day??

My midwife always asks if I'm feeling movement, but has never asked how much or given me a target. I'm 34 weeks now and seem to have active days and less active days - the baby always seems to have a mad hour between midnight and 1am though

The "what to expect" book reckons that from the 28th week if you count about 10 movements in the morning and 10 at night the baby's fine.

My pregnancy notes say to call in if no movements for 8 hours. It says specifically NOT to wait until the next day/morning. It says they'd check the heartbeat/rythm and would most likely send you home reassured.

Not meaning to worry you even more, but I WOULD take that advice seriously.

I know someone who had reduced movements, delayed going in, and when she finally did, they were very worried as the baby was clearly distressed - they nearly did an EMCS right then and there. That might have saved the baby's life.
I know someone else who delayed going in until the next morning, and the baby was dead. That was at 37 weeks.
So I'm just saying, the advice is there for a reason, not just to scare people.

The way I handle it is to take every movement I feel as a complete "happy moment". Every kick reassures me that things are ok (even though sometimes it HURTS!). I just try to focus on the positive message of the movements, rather than worry about the lack of movements.

I think worrying about our LOs is something we will never get over - we signed up for that when we got our first BFP...

If it helps a friend and I always found that very cold orange juice would start lots and lots of kicking (or chocolate!).

Mine goes crazy when I eat apples, if that's any help!

I used to drink some 7up and lay down on my side - or some cold water or ice cream.

Mw told me 10 movements between 9am and 9pm from about 30 weeks onwards. I had quiet days too and an anterior placenta. Sometimes I think he was just kicking my back.

Always worth getting it checked if you haven't felt movement for a while.

If I lean forward too much I get a stern kicking

I never felt DD1 move once in the whole pregnancy, and she is perfectly healthy. I am 35 weeks with number 2 now and she is very active, although I have been feeling her move less as she gets bigger.

I think what the MW should have been saying is that your baby will have active periods and quiet periods and these will vary from day to day. I certainly haven't been counting 10 movements in 10 hours because I feel movement every day and know that the baby is fine. You won't always feel your baby kicking - it depends on it's positioning.

Today I got asked at my appointment if there was a particular area that baby kicks but I said no because it just depends on what position I'm lying in. I have many other things to concentrate on, not just the pregnancy!

I could usually wake DS1 up later on in pregnancy by (gently) pushing down on the top of the bump where his bottom was- not sure if thats recommended though!