When a reassuring test doesn’t match what you feel
In my first pregnancy, I often couldn’t feel my baby move, even when the scan showed movement. This is how to count movements, when to call and what I’d do now.
Key points
- Reduced fetal movement is reported in up to 15% of pregnancies. Call labor and delivery triage immediately each time it happens, even if your last check was reassuring.
- A common guideline is at least 10 movements in two hours, counted once a day from about 28 weeks. Count at the same time each day and write it down, so you know your baby’s usual pattern.
- The CDC lists movement slowing or stopping as an urgent maternal warning sign. Call labor and delivery triage immediately. Don’t wait to finish a count first, and don’t wait until tomorrow.
I went to labor and delivery triage for this more times than I can count. What happened on one of those visits is in “The Day I Offered to Leave Triage.” This post is about the movement itself: what I felt, what I was told and what I’d do now.
Feeling my baby, and not
My baby moved most when I lay on my side, and some stretches of the day were quiet. But for long periods I couldn’t feel any movement at all, even when the ultrasound showed the baby moving. My chart says I was “not perceiving mvts even when seen on scans.”
My doctor called this a huge limitation for knowing how my baby was doing at home, increased my monitoring to twice a week, told me I could come to triage any day I didn’t have an appointment, and recommended considering induction as early as 37 weeks.
When I asked about deeper testing, I was told the best assessment was coming to triage.
The mismatch. Once, I went to a local emergency department for a nonstress test (monitoring the baby’s heart rate over time) and an ultrasound. Both were reassuring, but when I got home I still didn’t feel more movement, and I wrote to my doctor asking what to do when a normal test and what I felt at home didn’t match.
The day I waited. Another time, when my baby was moving less than usual, I waited a day before I called. I didn’t want to be the patient who overreacts.
I wouldn’t wait now.
Looking back, my doctor took the movement seriously. Twice-weekly monitoring and an open door to triage were real answers. They also meant that every quiet stretch became a decision I had to make at home: is this the one I go in for?
What to know about movement
- A change in your baby’s usual movement is a reason to call. The CDC lists movement slowing or stopping as an urgent maternal warning sign.
- There is no single normal number. What matters is a change from your baby’s own pattern.
- Labor and delivery triage exists for exactly this call. You don’t need permission or certainty.
How to count. Follow your provider’s instructions. A common method: starting around 28 weeks, count once a day at about the same time, often after a meal. Lie on your side or sit comfortably. Time how long it takes to feel 10 movements; kicks, flutters, swishes and rolls count, and hiccups don’t. Write it down. Many babies reach 10 movements well within an hour, and a common guideline is at least 10 in two hours. The free Count the Kicks app can track it for you.
Call right away if you haven’t felt 10 movements in two hours, it’s taking noticeably longer than usual, your baby is moving much less than on previous days, the movement feels very different (including unusually strong), or you haven’t felt your baby move at all today. If movement has slowed or changed, you don’t need to finish a count before you call.
What I ask for now
- A plan for movement if I can’t feel it reliably: how to count, when to call and who answers at night.
- And one rule for myself: if I’m wondering whether to call, I call.
Take this back
To discuss with your care team: How do you want me to count movements, and what should make me call? Who do I call at night? If I can’t feel movement reliably, what’s the plan for monitoring?
To discuss with the people in your life: If I say the baby feels different, will you help me make the call instead of talking me out of it?
Next in the series: “The Day I Offered to Leave Triage”
