Pregnancy is a wonderful feeling particularly when the baby bump starts to show and you can start to feel the foetus moving inside. Nothing can be compared to this feeling of wonder and amazement that it brings. This is also the time when you are extremely conscious about the baby’s well-being and ready to do almost anything advised for the child’s health and safety. Some stories are surrounding the number of kicks or movements that the bay makes during this time for estimating its health and growth rate.
Counting the kicks
There are many surrounding the number of times that the baby should be kicking with many advising that a set of kicks are the best way to understand the child’s health. That is however not the case. Internet forums are abuzz with various kinds of suggestions that moms-to-be should not be listening to at all. All babies are not same and hence cannot be expected to move around at the same rate. According to studies a baby’s movements can vary between 4 and 100 every hour. So it is almost impossibly to say how many times babies should be moving.
Lesser movements can be due to distress
Mothers are normally cautious of the movements because it is frankly impossible to ignore. Therefore it can be safely said that if the signs of movement seem to have lessened noticeably then a visit to the doctor is extremely important. For instance if a baby which earlier moved almost 50 times in 12 hours or so seems reduced to 20 times can mean distress. Even the way one mother counts or experiences the kicks can be markedly different from the other. For the sake of measuring a pregnancy kick counter bracelet is often advised. It is a fun way of counting the fetal movements and understanding your baby better.
Why the counts help?
Counting the babies kicks also helps in understanding the sleeping and waking cycle of the baby. Initially you may not be able to feel the movement so no need to panic. But as your observation and attachment increases you will be understanding the time of the day when the child will be rolling, kicking, or even jabbing inside your belly. The signs of these movements are very important to prevent still birth and understand the child’s health condition even before birth. In case of pregnancies with greater risk the baby kick counter should start ticking by 28 weeks.
Conclusion
Babies are usually found to be most active during the time when the sugar level is declining like between 9pm and 1am. You can start the counting by sitting in a comfortable position or even lying on your left side which is incidentally very good for blood circulation. Ideally try to gauge the time it takes for 10 movements which could be within two hours or less. You can write it in a diary or use one of the many counters available online.