When Do You Feel Your Baby Move? Fetal Movements Week by Week

You are lying on the sofa, hand resting on your bump, and suddenly something flickers. A bubble? A rumble? Or is it the baby? Knowing when you feel your baby move is on many mothers-to-be's minds, especially in a first pregnancy, when you don't yet know what you are looking for.

Here is when the first sensations arrive, how they change right up to your due date, whether you should count movements, and above all when a baby moving less means you need to be seen.

When do you first feel your baby move?

Usually between 17 and 20 weeks of pregnancy (counted from the first day of your last period). NHS Wales places the first sensations around 17-18 weeks, and more often between 18 and 20 weeks in a first pregnancy. Women who have carried a child before often recognise these sensations a little earlier. Doctors call this moment “quickening”.

Yet your baby moves long before that. According to the Mayo Clinic, at 16 weeks the arms and legs already make coordinated movements, visible on ultrasound, but too weak to be felt. Movements become noticeable around 20 weeks, when the baby also starts alternating periods of sleep and wakefulness.

So don't worry if you feel nothing at 16 or 18 weeks. To place these milestones in your pregnancy, see our week-by-week pregnancy calendar.

What do the first movements feel like?

At first, nothing spectacular. Women describe bubbles popping, a butterfly's wings fluttering, a little fish turning over, a light brushing below the belly button. They are easily confused with wind or tummy rumbles.

Then, week by week, the sensations become clearer. You feel kicks, pushes, rolls. In the third trimester, your partner can often feel them by placing a hand on your belly, and you will sometimes see your bump change shape. You may also notice small regular jolts: these are often your baby's hiccups.

How do movements change up to your due date?

Space runs short at the end of pregnancy, and the way your baby moves may change. But the baby does not move less. NHS Wales is clear on this: a baby keeps moving right up until birth. The idea that it is normal for a baby to “calm down” as the due date approaches is wrong, and dangerous.

Should you count your baby's movements?

Recommendations differ from country to country, and it is worth knowing.

• In the United Kingdom, NHS Wales says there is no set number of movements to reach. What matters is learning your baby's usual pattern and reacting to any change.
• In Quebec, the guide Mieux vivre avec notre enfant offers a number to go by after 26 weeks: at rest, if you count fewer than six distinct movements in two hours, contact your birthing unit quickly or go to hospital.

Both approaches agree on the essential point: get to know your baby, and never wait. UNICEF says it too: in the third trimester, you should feel your baby move every day.

For these rest periods on your side, and for nights from 28 weeks, a pregnancy pillow helps you hold the position without straining your back. Our article on sleeping positions during pregnancy explains how to settle in.

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Baby moving less: why you should never wait

Reduced movements can be a sign that the baby is not well. They are among the reasons for an urgent visit listed by Geneva University Hospitals (HUG) and by the NHS. Being seen quickly means checking without delay that all is well, or acting fast if it is not.

NHS Wales gives very clear instructions:

• call the maternity unit as soon as you think your baby is moving less than usual;
• do not wait until the next day, your next appointment or the end of the weekend, even if it is 3 in the morning;
• do not use a home doppler to reassure yourself: hearing a heartbeat does not prove your baby is well.

At the maternity unit, the midwife or doctor will listen to the baby's heart, monitor the movements and, if needed, do an ultrasound scan. Never be afraid of being a nuisance: calls like this are part of the everyday work of maternity teams.

During Ramadan too, a baby moving less should never be put down to fasting without medical advice: get checked, and talk it over with your doctor after reading our article on fasting during pregnancy.

Movements as birth approaches

Late in pregnancy, the baby often drops lower into the pelvis and you may feel more pressure downwards. The movements, however, continue until labour starts. To recognise the other signals of this period, such as contractions or your waters breaking, read our article on the signs that labour is starting.