Friday, 05 January 2018 06:49

Kick counts during pregnancy

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Kick Counts -
Many first-time moms, may not feel the baby kicks, till their pregnancy is close to 25 weeks. But second or third-time moms may feel their baby kick by 18 weeks itself, as they already have felt it in the earlier pregnancies and know what to expect. Many of my viewers have asked the question - How do you I know if my baby is moving enough? Is there a way we can monitor the growth of the baby ourselves?

Well, there is a simple test called kick count which you can do at the comfort of your home.

Before you start this test, drink a glass of water or if you are not diabetic drink some fruit juice or eat a sweet. It is found that fetus generally tends to be more active after a sweet drink. Choose a place which is quiet and lie down on your left side and start noticing and counting the baby movements. In a notebook, record the time you feel the first fetal movement, place a check mark for each movement you feel until you reach 10, then record the time of the tenth movement. This will help you observe how long it normally takes for your baby to move 10 times. You can stop once you have felt the baby move 10 times and have recorded the time. You should have at least 10 movements in 2 hours. Most people feel all 10 movements in less than 30 to 40 mins and they will be done with the test, some people may feel the baby move during the day all the time and may not really feel the need to count the movements.

Observe this every day and make a note of any change of pattern and report to your doctor.

Your Doctor may ask you to do the kick counts once a day if you are diabetic or have any other problem. Setting aside a time every day, and doing the kick count especially from the 7th month onwards, is good in monitoring the babies well being and identifying any problems with the baby and most of all it will be reassuring for you too that everything is going well. Usually, baby’s movements tend to peak between 28 to 32 weeks. after that, they tend to decrease. Near-term, the movements tend to be more of slight movements then the earlier weeks.

So, go ahead start counting your babies kicks, this is also one way of saying hello and connecting with your baby every day.

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Last modified on Monday, 06 August 2018 06:06
Dr Padma

Dr Padma is a Family care physician and is the Founder and CEO of MedHealthTV.

www.medhealthtv.com

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