Women presenting with repeated episodes of RFM should be treated as being at high risk of placental dysfunction irrespective of the results of prenatal ultrasound and Doppler assessment. Reduced fetal movements RFM are an important and frequently seen problem in maternity care with 6-15 of women reporting at least 1 episode of RFM during the third trimester of pregnancy1 2 RFM defined as a subjective perception of significantly reduced or absent fetal activity is emerging as an important clinical marker to identify women with high risk of stillbirth and fetal growth restriction due to placental dysfunction.
These movements often start out as subtle flutters and eventually progress into full-blown kicks.
2 episodes of reduced fetal movement. Reduced fetal movements RFM are an important and frequently seen problem in maternity care with 6-15 of women reporting at least 1 episode of RFM during the third trimester of pregnancy1 2 RFM defined as a subjective perception of significantly reduced or absent fetal activity is emerging as an important clinical marker to identify women with high risk of stillbirth and fetal growth restriction due to placental dysfunction. 3 In fact the majority of stillbirths. Repeated episodes of RFMs at term are more likely to occur in women with high second-trimester uterine artery Doppler resistance indices and are strongly associated with the birth of SGA infants.
Women presenting with repeated episodes of RFM should be treated as being at high risk of placental dysfunction irrespective of the results of prenatal ultrasound and Doppler assessment. Second episode of reduced fetal movements ultrasound USS scan shows abnormal umbilical artery Doppler and small-for-gestational-age SGA fetus 374 P1. Previous lower segment caesarean section LSCS third episode of reduced fetal movements USS shows cephalic SGA fetus has elective repeat LSCS booked at 394.
During the month in which the research was undertaken 591 women presented with reduced fetal movements. The researchers calculated from hospital birth numbers that this was 226 of all the women who could have experienced this. Almost half of those women 462 experienced more than one episode of reduced fetal movements.
Second episode of DFM Growth scan unless performed in previous 2 weeks 2628 weeks gestation Perform EFM trace ideally computerised if available Criteria met within 45 min. Reassure allow home and advise to return if further concerns about fetal movements EFM trace suspicious or pathological. Advise women to contact their hospital or clinician if they have another episode of reduced fetal movements.
If a woman has recurrent presentations with DFM escalate care to a senior clinician. Women who are concerned about reduced fetal movements should not wait until the next day for assessment of fetal wellbeing. Up to 15 of pregnant women experience a change in fetal movements during their pregnancy4 Most women about 70 who perceive a reduction in fetal movements will have a normal outcome to their pregnancy1 However 55 of women experiencing a stillbirth perceived a reduction in fetal movements before diagnosis5 Women who present with reduced fetal movements on two or more occasions are at increased risk of a poor perinatal outcome including fetal.
Reduced fetal movements were defined as. A the mother perceived the baby was moving less or not at all and b the mother presented to secondary care with this as the primary complaint. A second episode of RFM was defined as one where a woman presented 24 hours after the first having felt movements in the interim.
Ive had 8 episodes in 10 weeks due to a large anterior placenta only getting induced because baby is over the 97th centile is predicted to be 10-105lb at birth. If they did induction for 3 episodes unfortunately they will have ladies saying they have reduced movements just to. These movements often start out as subtle flutters and eventually progress into full-blown kicks.
These fetal movements can also be an indicator of how your baby is doing. If you experience a sudden decrease in movements particularly once you are. Reduced Fetal Movements Green-top Guideline No.
57 This guideline reviews the risk factors for reduced fetal movements in pregnancy and makes management recommendations. This is the first edition of this guideline. The second edition of this guideline is currently in development.
Conversely maternal perception of changes in activity can indicate fetal compromise. The most commonly reported change is a reduction in fetal movement1 2 Maternal perception of reduced fetal movements RFM is associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes including fetal growth restriction3 oligohydramnios4 and stillbirth3 These conditions are associated with placental. At 32 weeks of gestation there is no reduction in the frequency of fetal movements in the late third trimester.
Perceived fetal movements are defined as the maternal 3sensation of any discrete kick flutter swish or roll. Such fetal activity provides an indication of the integrity of the central nervous and musculoskeletal systems. Management of Reduced Fetal Movements Saving Babies Lives 2 2019 Record the duration of RFM episode.
Document maternal observations and urinalysis. Palpate the abdomen and record fundal height as per GAP protocol. Plot findings on customized growth chart and consider ultrasound scan if SGA suspected.
In the second audit prevalence of RFM increased by 10 CTG documentation improved by 1 and ultrasound scan requests decreased by 66. Women with more than one episode of RFM were more likely to be younger smokers nulliparous have raised BMI had a higher IOL rate and had more ultrasound scans compared to those with one episode. Pregnancies ending in stillbirth were more frequently associated with significant abnormalities in fetal movements in the preceding two weeks.
This included a significant reduction in fetal activity aOR 141 95 CI 7272745 or sudden single episode of excessive fetal activity aOR 430 95 CI 225824. Reduction of fetal movements is an adaptive mechanism to reduce oxygen consumption. A number of 1129 of women presenting with reduced fetal movements carry a small for gestational age SGA fetus below the 10th centile 23.
Fetal movements in a healthy fetus vary from 4 to 100 per hour. Maternal perception of fetal movements. Normal fetal movements can be defined as 10 or more fetal movements in 2 hours felt by a woman when she is lying on her side and focusing on the movement 246 which may be perceived as any discrete kick flutter swish or roll.
1 Fetal movements provide reassurance of the integrity of the central nervous and musculoskeletal systems. 1 The majority of pregnant women report fetal movements by. The majority of studies have focussed on maternal perception of reduced fetal movements which is associated with stillbirth via placental dysfunction.
Recent studies have also described an association between a single episode of excessive fetal movements and late stillbirth.