Subjective recording of fetal movements. II. Screening of a pregnant population; methodological aspects.

Abstract

1914 women were asked to count fetal movements for 15 minutes every evening from the 28th week of pregnancy until parturition. An individual lowest limit for number of fetal movements was calculated from the first five counts. The women were instructed to contact the maternity ward for fetal evaluation as soon as their count fell below the lowest limit on two consecutive evenings (alarm signal). 79% of the women did record fetal movements, the proportion of those who did so being significantly higher in nulliparae and women 20-35 years old than in multiparae, teenagers and women older than 35 years. The mean duration of the registration period was 11.4 (SD 3.2) weeks and the median interval from the end of the registration period to delivery was 0.32 weeks. 31% of the women with an alarm signal on their Fetal Movement Charts never reported the decrease in the fetal movements count. 30% of the women who did report a reduction in the number of fetal movements did so despite the absence of an alarm signal. We conclude that most pregnant women are willing and able to count fetal movements but that they have difficulty in following the instructions concerning when to report a decrease in number of fetal movements.