The first stirring of the baby in the mother's womb is a touching moment that will be remembered for a lifetime. That is why all future mothers are looking forward to it. Questions about the timing of the onset of sensations are one of the most common. In this article, we will look at when a woman should begin to feel her baby.
How does the baby move?
During pregnancy, the fetus begins to move much earlier than a woman can imagine. Sometimes she still does not know about her pregnancy, and the baby is already starting to move. At the 6th week of pregnancy, just two weeks after the start of the delay, the doctor can determine the first signs of physical activity, however, only the prototype of the heart muscle moves. But the baby begins to wiggle the limbs by the 7-8th week of pregnancy.
Considering that by the end of the second month of pregnancy, the child weighs no more than a gram, and his height is no more than 15 mm, the woman cannot feel his movements. The movements are of a nervous-impulse nature and are not yet voluntary.
As the baby grows, it begins to move more actively during pregnancy. By the 11th week of pregnancy, the fetus is able to swim in the amniotic fluid inside its bladder, it turns over and already knows how to push off from the walls of the uterus, if such contact occurs. The baby is small and does not weigh so much that these touches are also felt. By the end of 4 months of pregnancy, the fetus masters voluntary movements, he knows how to bend and unbend the limbs, can partially coordinate his movements, for example, bring the fist to the mouth and start sucking it. At a period of 18 weeks, the fetus is large enough, but there is a lot of space in the uterus - it can tumble, roll over, change body position several times a day without problems and obstacles.
More tangibly and weighty, the crumb begins to push by 20 weeks. It is at this moment that a woman can first feel the movements. Motor activity is an indicator of fetal vitality and contributes to the development of the brain, the formation of reflexes. As the gestation period increases, the movements and tremors become more pronounced, because the baby in the womb grows and gains weight daily.
However, no one will give you an exact answer to the question of when you can expect the first movements, because it all depends on individual sensitivity and the number of births and pregnancies preceding this one. Usually, the timing of the onset of amazing sensations during pregnancy is 16-22 weeks.
Primiparous
Pregnant women for the first time, as a rule, begin to feel the baby's jolts later than women who have already become mothers. The reasons lie in the peculiarities of perception - a woman who has not previously felt movements often cannot recognize them until the tremors become completely obvious. The first movements are very delicate and unobtrusive. They feel like a light touch from the inside. Many people compare them to touching a fish. Women simply confuse them with the processes continuously occurring in the intestines.
The vast majority of expectant mothers claim that they felt the first movements of their baby between 18 and 21 weeks. Not so long ago, when ultrasound was not so widespread in the management of pregnancy, obstetricians-gynecologists considered the timing of the appearance of the first movements "equator" of pregnancy. After them, the second half of the gestation period began, which lasted for about 20 more weeks.
The long-awaited sensations in the abdomen during the first pregnancy today do not play such an important diagnostic role, but they did not become less important from this. Doctors always ask the expectant mother if she feels the movements of her baby in order to better control the gestation process.
Multiparous
During the second pregnancy or the subsequent woman, it is much easier to understand her feelings, the woman will no longer confuse the first movements with fermentation of intestinal gases. But not only an increase in individual sensitivity can be explained earlier than during the first pregnancy, the appearance of sensations.
The muscular walls of the uterus after previous pregnancies are more stretched, more sensitive, which is why movements begin to be felt earlier. Most pregnant women re-assure that they felt the first movements at a period of 16-18 weeks and even earlier.
What influences?
In addition to the type of pregnancy, the appearance of obvious sensations in the woman's abdomen is influenced by other factors that can either postpone the long-awaited moment or bring it closer. These factors are practically the same for all women, no matter what kind of child they are expecting. The appearance of the first movements depends on:
- weight and build;
- location and presentation of the fetus;
- location of the placenta;
- lifestyle and activity of the expectant mother.
Slender and thin girls begin to feel their babies earlier than women with a wide pelvis and overweight. The central nervous system can receive "signals" from the nerve receptors of the peritoneum during kicks and shocks of the fetus earlier, if there is no substantial supply of fatty tissue in the abdomen.
The mother's complexion does not affect the development of the child and the timing of his physical activity. It's just that thin women begin to feel the child a little earlier. If the placenta is located on the back of the uterus, the chances of earlier recognition of movements are higher. When the "child's seat" is located on the front wall, it means that the limbs of the fetus are turned into the mother's body, kicks will occur mainly in the direction of the intestinal loops, and therefore the woman will be able to recognize them later.
The fetus, which is located upside down, begins to delight the mother with movements earlier than babies who sit on the priest in a breech presentation. The first movements begin to be felt earlier by women who lead a calm and measured lifestyle, have the opportunity for daytime rest. If the expectant mother works, learns that during the day she moves quite a lot, focuses her attention on something else, so she may not notice the first movements.
Thus, working and studying, pregnant women need to focus on the baby in the evenings, when you can take a horizontal position of the body and relax. Usually it is at this time for the first time that what the expectant mother is waiting for is felt.
Possible problems
It is not worth worrying ahead of time: the terms that are considered normal for fixing the first movements have rather wide boundaries, and therefore before 22 weeks there is not the slightest reason for worry. If, after this period, the woman does not feel the baby's movements, she should definitely consult a doctor and do an ultrasound scan of the fetus.
There can be a lot of reasons why a baby may be less active than it should be, here are just the most common:
- hypoxia;
- frozen pregnancy;
- delayed fetal development.
Too frequent movements, as well as too rare, should alert. It is likely that the baby does not have enough oxygen. With hypoxia at the initial stage, sharp shocks are often felt, painful, radiating into the cervix.
With chronic hypoxia, movements become lethargic and rare. It is very difficult to feel this at 18-20 weeks, such control over fetal movements will be needed mainly from 28 weeks, when the woman will be instructed to count the number of baby's movements per day.
Rhythmic and pulsating tremors in the right or left sides may indicate that the baby is hiccuping. This is not painful, not scary, and should not bother a woman at all, no matter how long they are - hiccups are quite physiological.
When will the movements become regular?
Regular movements become about 25 weeks of gestation. By the same time, a woman usually already has a good idea of exactly how the baby is located in her womb. If the head is down, movements are most often felt in the middle third of the abdomen and above, if he is sitting, kicks can be felt in the very lower abdomen, sometimes causing tingling movements in the vagina. From that moment on, the kids begin to react vividly to everything that happens to the mother - the baby kicks harder when the woman is nervous and worried.
At 7-8 months of pregnancy, the baby begins to react to sudden and harsh sounds with movements.
Until 28 weeks, you do not need to count the child's movements. It will be quite enough if the pregnant woman simply notes the presence of movements and their general nature daily. Keep in mind that there is no day to day, and therefore on different days the activity of the baby may be different.
Changes in the weather, changes in atmospheric pressure, the season and much more affect the activity of the baby. On a sunny day, the baby will be more active than on a cloudy day, in fact, like adults. Fruit activity is higher at night than during the day. If the mother is in a good mood, the baby will be more active.
Conclusions
If the time for the first movements has come, and you don't feel anything at all, try using a few popular tips. Get some rest and try to be calm and balanced. In the evening, before you lie down to rest, drink a glass of milk and eat a small piece of chocolate - sweet usually activates babies.
To feel the first movements, it is best to lie on your back. In the future, you should not often lie on your back, because as the uterus and fetus grow, the vena cava may be pinched.
Less compare yourself and your child with other women, including from thematic Internet forums. All women are different, the features of the physique and the location of the fetus are different for everyone, as well as the individual threshold of sensitivity. Therefore, you should not be upset if someone's baby has moved at 16 weeks, and your stomach is completely quiet at 19 weeks. Everything will appear at the right time.
In the following video, you can learn more about fetal movement during pregnancy.
