Decreased movement PSA

iris427

 I am reposting this because it was brought up in a thread below, and I know there is a lot of confusion about it.It is NOT TRUE that movement naturally decreases at the end of your pregnancy or right before labor.  This is a myth.As the baby grows, their movement will change--you feel more wiggles instead of all out kicks.  But the amount and pattern of movement should stay the same.If you think your baby is moving less than normal, eat or drink something sugary, lie on your left side and do a kick count.  You should feel 10 movements (kicks, rolls, punches, etc.) within 2 hours.  Do not count hiccups or movements that are in response to you poking your belly.  Babies don't move as much in their sleep, but if they have gone several hours without moving and you are worried, do a kick count.If your baby does not pass a kick count or you have a gut feeling something is wrong, CALL YOUR DOCTOR.  Do not wait a day or until your next appointment.  It's probably nothing, but this is not something to mess around with.  Decreased movement can be an early sign of fetal distress.  Calling your doctor could save your baby's life.

Mrs.tlcS

AGREE, AGREE, AGREE.

Being paranoid b/c of decreased movement saved my baby's life - he was born premature in serious distress.  Paying attention to decreased movement allowed us to rescue my child.

It's much better to go in and laugh at yourself because it turns out nothing is wrong, than it is to brush off your worries have it turn out to be something.

baby_soon_31

Excellent post! I am starting to think it's a good idea to re-post this like once daily - because there are posts on 'decreased movements' and plenty of advice that it's normal and nothing to worry about which drives me crazy.... And surprisingly there seems to be a lot of health care practitioners that advise that kick counts are unnecessary... (how absurd)..  Thanks for posting this - i hope other ladies will read through and it will stick on their minds for longer than 15 min....

DuckLover

I couldnt agree more!! 

My mom and I went into L&D the other night while DH was gone because it had been such a long time since i felt him move.  Even after drinking OJ and eating dinner along with drinking an iced tea which usually gets him moving I felt hardly anything.  We went in and after being hooked up and drinking some ice water he was moving around 10 minutes later.  I could even see the monitors moving on my stomach.  haha.

I told my friend we went and she thought it was absurd and called me paranoid but what i dont get is that shes already a mom so she should understand.  Whatever.  I'll always go in if i feel like something is wrong or his movement decreased a lot.  Its better to be safe then sorry!