Get to know your baby's normal. Avoid comparing your pregnancy to others. You and your baby are a team.
Trust your instincts. Report any concerns or uneasy feelings to your care provider without delay. Do not wait.
Monitor the strength of your baby's movement. If they start to weaken or feel unusual for your baby, contact your care provider straight away. What will your baby's movements feel like? Early in pregnancy baby's movements may feel like a tickle or flutter. As baby grows the movements will get stronger and feel more like kicks or punches. Closer to the due date movements may feel more like baby is rolling over and stronger sweeping movements.
Get to know your baby's pattern of movement. Is your baby a morning person or a night owl? Does your baby like to hear your voice or dance to music? Is your baby social or shy? Monitor this and if anything changes, contact your care provider straight away.
Monitor frequency of your of your baby's movement. If anything feels irregular, do not wait to contact your care provider. Your baby should keep moving throughout pregnancy, even during labour. There is no set number of normal movements, by 28 weeks a routine will likely be developing.
Settle to sleep on your side from 28 weeks pregnant. If you wake up on your back, don't worry, just settle back to sleep on your side.
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Written by Sarah Langford, ACU Bachelor of Midwifery student Originally appeared in Essence: Australian Breastfeeding Association Magazine Vol53 No 3 September 2017 When I was pregnant I tried to cocoon myself in a happy bubble, I didn’t want to hear any “horror stories.” The underlying (naïve) assumption being that as...
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I thought stillbirth was just that; stillbirth. Then I learnt there is a very important word that changes everything, PREVENTABLE Stillbirth. Before our family became one of the 6 Australian families per day that experience a baby’s death from stillbirth, I never knew just how prevalent this type of death...
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Like many mothers, I was so excited to be expecting my first baby and downloaded about half a dozen pregnancy apps to my phone so I could follow my baby's growth and development. It was a little thrill to read what my baby was doing in there "This week she's...