In plain words
Kick counts are a way to notice how often your baby moves during pregnancy. You sit or lie down, often on your side, and count each movement, such as a kick, roll, or flutter, over a set period. Many people do this in the later weeks of pregnancy, when babies are more active and changes are easier to notice. Methods differ. Some use a set number of movements in a set time, and others use a different schedule. Your provider may give you a method to follow. A clear drop in movement, or movement that stops, is a reason to call the same day. Movement patterns vary from baby to baby. A count helps you notice change. It is not a test that says the baby is fine. Providers take a mother's own sense that something is different seriously.
The deeper version
Fetal movement counting, including the Cardiff count-to-ten method, is a maternal self-monitoring approach based on the observation that a reduction in perceived movement may precede fetal compromise. A Cochrane review (2015) found no clear benefit of routine formal movement counting for reducing or perinatal mortality, and the trials were small and varied in method. RCOG Green-top Guideline No. 57 (2011) advises prompt clinical assessment of reduced fetal movement, with or ultrasound as indicated, and treats counting as an informed-choice tool rather than a screening test. The controversy is whether formal counting itself reduces stillbirth, or whether education about recognizing change is the active element, and whether counts should trigger hospital assessment at fixed thresholds.
Where it comes up
What mothers here say about kick counts
No one has posted under this term yet.
Sources
- Cochrane — Fetal movement counting for assessing fetal wellbeing, 2015
- Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists — Green-top Guideline No. 57: Reduced Fetal Movements, 2011