Instructions for tracking fetal movements

This is an automatically translated article.

The article is professionally consulted by Specialist Doctor II Lai Thi Nguyet Hang - Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology - Vinmec Ha Long International Hospital.
Normally, if the fetus is too early, it will be difficult for the pregnant woman to distinguish between fetal movements and abdominal bloating, however, from the 18th week of pregnancy onwards, fetal movements are very obvious with baby's stretching, stretching, kicking or curling, turning.

1. What is fetal movement?

Fetal movement, also known as mechanical pregnancy, is a phenomenon in which the fetus in the womb has movements such as contraction, stretching, turning, kicking ..., the more weeks of pregnancy, the easier it is for the mother to feel it. these fetal movements.
Fetal movements show the health status of the fetus in the womb. A healthy fetus will have certain fetal movements during the day (unless the fetus sleeps), if the number of fetal movements decreases, it is a warning sign that the fetus is having problems. If there is no device for a few days or the device is weak, it is very likely that the fetus will fail or still have a baby, so pregnant mothers must pay special attention to this issue, monitoring and counting fetal movements every day is a must. do necessary.

2. How many weeks pregnant to kick hard?

Almost all pregnant women have the same question, don't know "how many weeks pregnant can I kick hard?" To answer these questions depends on many factors and each mother's location. Usually in the second 3 months of pregnancy, fetal movements will not be regular, but later on, when the gestational age is larger, the time of fetal movement is longer, fetal movements are most obvious from week 22. to the 34th week of pregnancy.
Any pregnant mother has a feeling of happiness when she sees the first fetal movement, then looks forward to the next fetal movements, learns to monitor the health of the baby. The health of the fetus in the womb through mechanical pregnancies. This is also the most active and simplest way for parents and doctors to monitor the fetus completely.

3. Instructions for tracking fetal movements

To monitor fetal movements, pregnant women need to be attentive and sensitive because the movements are like tapping sounds on the abdominal wall, so if you don't pay attention, it is difficult to recognize these things.

According to the American Association of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, pregnant women should take the time to feel all 10 kicks, wiggles, nudges, or curls. Ideally, feel at least 10 movements within 2 hours. However, with healthy, active fetuses, mothers can still feel 10 movements in a shorter time.
To be sure, mothers should prepare themselves a monitoring book. In the logbook of the time when the first fetal movement was felt, mark an “X” for each felt movement until 10 are reached, followed by recording the time of the 10th movement. This will help moms track movement patterns and determine how long it normally takes for 10 pregnancies.
The way to monitor fetal movements is also very simple, mothers just need to count the number of fetal movements in the morning, noon, afternoon or evening, or if busy, they can count at least once a day within 30 minute. In case the fetus sleeps, there will be no fetal movement, but the average sleep time is only from 20 minutes to 2 hours.
A healthy fetus will have more than 4 movements within 30 minutes, more than 3 times a day. If in 1 hour there are more than 4 fetuses, it means that the fetus is healthy. If in 4 hours there are less than 10 fetal movements, or all fetal movements are weak, the mother needs to go to the doctor to monitor the fetal condition further by other methods.
Normal pregnancy is different from contractions that often cause the abdomen to harden or deviate to one side, daily monitoring of fetal movements is necessary to assess the health status of the fetus, this is a method Simple, inexpensive but highly effective. If mothers practice the habit of monitoring the fetus, mothers will promptly detect weak fetuses and take timely intervention measures to avoid a bad situation.
In case if the pregnant woman has followed the instructions to monitor fetal movements but does not feel the fetus after 2 hours, wait a few more hours and try again. After the second test, if you still can't feel it, you should go to the hospital for medical staff to monitor the fetus.
Pregnancy machine reflects the health of the fetus, so when the fetus is abnormal, it is most likely a manifestation of premature birth, fetal distress, stillbirth. You should immediately go to a reputable medical facility for examination and intervention. In addition, you should also have regular prenatal check-ups to monitor the baby's development.
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