I'm nearly five months along, and unlike just a few weeks ago, there is no longer any doubt whenever I feel my baby kick or twitch. Sometimes, they're strong enough to make me wince or gasp!

What I haven't been consciously doing, though is keep track of my baby's movements, which I should. If the baby does not make about 10 movements in 2 hours, it could be a warning sign that there's something wrong, and the baby might not be receiving enough oxygen.

How is fetal movement monitoring carried out?

A common way for mothers to assess fetal movement is by doing kick counts. One way of doing these is to have the mother lie down with her hand on her abdomen, and focus only on fetal movements for a period of one hour. There are several variations of how the counting should be evaluated, ranging from at least three movements in an hour, to repeated daily assessments to determine how long it takes her unborn baby to reach ten movements. If it generally takes a certain amount of time to reach ten kicks, and on a particular day it does not reach a this number within a given time, the mother should notify her obstetrician or midwife, who probably will recommend a nonstress test. In the vast majority of cases, the fetus is doing well, but on rare occasions the nonstress test will be nonreactive, and the lack of movement actually may be a sign of worsening fetal condition.

Photo: Valsilvae