Feeling My Baby's Movements for the First Time - What is Normal Fetal Movement in Pregnancy?

My personal journey of feeling my baby's first movement as a mama and trained midwife

There is something quite extraordinary about the first time you feel your baby move. 

For me, that first moment came at 14 weeks and 6 days.

It was so exciting and I'm gonna share all about it below.

I also want to explore what we actually know about "normal" fetal movements in this blog post? How much of the current maternity advice is supported by research?

Because I believe women deserve information, not just instructions. We deserve to understand the reasoning behind recommendations, and how to make informed decisions about our care.

My first encounter with my baby's movements

I remember it with joy :).

I was 14 weeks and 6 days pregnant. I had gone to bed and was lying down, getting ready to fall asleep, when I suddenly felt something happening inside my womb.

It wasn't a flutter or a little bubble. It was a few distinct somersaults.

I could actually feel my baby turning and moving around in there.

I was so excited that I immediately got up, ran downstairs and found my friend Sigrid, who was visiting. Sigrid is also my beautiful homebirth midwife.

We were holding our midwifery craft apprenticeship training, Jordemödrarnas Arv , a traditional Swedish midwifery apprenticeship that we created together to preserve and pass on the wisdom and craft of traditional midwifery.

I shared my excitement with her, and we had a little happy dance together before I went back upstairs to sleep for the night.

It was such a beautiful moment. My first real encounter with this little being moving around inside me.

How my baby's movements developed throughout pregnancy

Following that first experience at 14+6, I would feel movement perhaps every third day or so.

They were very subtle movements, and I would usually notice them when I was lying down to have a nap or settling into bed for the night.

Around weeks 17–18, the movements became a little more frequent. Perhaps every day or every second day, but still quite subtle and generally when I was resting.

Between weeks 20 and 25, I started noticing a little more activity. The movements were becoming more recognizable, but there was still no particularly established pattern.

Some days I felt more. Other days I felt very little. 

Around weeks 25–27, the movements became stronger. I could feel proper kicks and rolls, and there was definitely more activity.

But this was also the period when I occasionally found myself wondering whether everything was okay.

There could be days when I felt quite a lot of movement, followed by a day when things seemed very quiet.

I experience pregnancy insomnia and wake up several times during the night.

Often, I would feel my baby moving during those nighttime awakenings.

But sometimes I would go through an entire night without really noticing any movement, and then feel relatively little throughout the following day.

I remember this one morning thinking:

Hmm, is this normal? Should I be worried, should I investigate this?

I think this is something many pregnant women can relate to. 

But then I would lie down, drink something cold and sweet and I would feel movement again.

And then the day after it would shift and there would be lots of movement.

By around weeks 28–29, however, something changed.

The movements became much more consistent.

I started feeling my baby throughout both the day and night, without those longer quiet periods I had experienced earlier.

Now, at this stage of pregnancy at 30 weeks, I feel my baby almost constantly.

Sometimes the movements are gentle little shifts and nudges. Other times they are much more pronounced, with proper kicks, rolls and stretches.

It is such a lovely feeling to have this little companion with me throughout the day.

As well as uncomfortable and sometimes painful!

And Now that I am 7 months I just have a hard time comprehending how much more baby is going to grow... surely I cant fit more baby inside of me?

But of course I know I will, and they are going to double if not triple in size in the next few weeks...

And the movements I am guessing will get stronger and more painful and pronounced.

Yikes... ;) 

When should you start feeling your baby move?

Most women begin to feel their babies somewhere between 16 and 24 weeks of pregnancy. 

For a first pregnancy, it is quite common to notice movements later, sometimes after 20 weeks.

Initially, movements can feel like bubbles, flutters, gentle swirling sensations or little rolls. As pregnancy progresses, they generally become more distinct and recognizable. 

I felt mine earlier, at 14+6, but there is considerable variation between women and pregnancies.  It very much also depends if you have an anterior or posterior placenta when you start feeling movements and how strongly.

When does a recognizable pattern develop? 

 A more recognizable pattern of movement generally begins to emerge around 24–28 weeks.

I wouldn't say I feel like my baby had a pattern (if you don't count an irregular pattern a pattern) until establishing daily at 28-29 weeks.

The movements were developing, becoming stronger and gradually more frequent. But its not like at 10am there will be activity and at 11 there will be stillness.

It is also important to understand that babies have periods of activity and rest. They do not move continuously, and their movements can vary throughout the day.

They have short and long naps.

Do we need to count kicks?

This is where the research becomes particularly interesting.

For many years, women have been encouraged in some maternity settings to count their baby's movements, sometimes using what are known as kick charts or movement charts.

The idea is to count a certain number of movements within a specific period of time.

However, current evidence does not establish that routinely counting movements using a fixed numerical threshold is beneficial for all pregnancies.

The updated 2026 Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists guideline on reduced fetal movements states that there is insufficient evidence to recommend formal fetal movement counting using specified alarm limits.

Instead, the recommendation is that women become familiar with their own baby's individual pattern of movement.

In other words, it isn't about every baby reaching the same number of kicks each day. It is about recognising what is usual for your baby and noticing when something changes.

And that takes time to recognize and also, it changes!  

Does monitoring fetal movements prevent stillbirth?

This is an area where I think we need to be honest about the limitations of the research.

There is an established association between reduced fetal movements and adverse pregnancy outcomes, including fetal growth restriction and placental insufficiency.

When a baby is moving less than usual, this can sometimes be an indication that something is not quite right and that further assessment is needed.

However, demonstrating that a particular fetal movement awareness programme actually reduces stillbirth rates is more complicated.

Trials of fetal movement awareness interventions have not yet demonstrated a clear, significant reduction in stillbirth rates. This does not mean that reduced movements are unimportant. It means that we still have unanswered questions about the most effective ways of monitoring and responding to them.

The distinction matters.

We can recognise the importance of fetal movements while also acknowledging that the evidence for particular monitoring methods is not as conclusive as we might assume.  

Why getting to know your baby's individual pattern matters

Every baby is different. Some babies seem particularly active in the evening, others during the night or when their mother is resting.

You might notice that your baby has periods of activity followed by periods of sleep.

As pregnancy progresses, movements will also change in character. Those early somersaults and rolling sensations may become more like kicks, stretches, nudges and little pushes.

The important distinction is that although the type of movement can change, movements should not simply become less frequent because there is less room in the womb.

The RCOG explains that movements generally increase until around 32 weeks and then remain at a similar frequency, although their character may change.   

And if you notice a reduction or a change in your baby's established pattern, please contact your midwife or maternity unit immediately, at any time of day or night. Do not wait until the following day. This applies even if you are unsure whether the change is significant.  

Learning to trust, without dismissing concerns

I think there is an interesting balance to find during pregnancy.

On one hand, we don't want to turn pregnancy into a constant exercise of monitoring, measuring, counting and worrying. We don't want women to feel that they must spend their days checking whether their baby has moved a particular number of times.

On the other hand, we should never dismiss a mother's concern about her baby's movements as simply anxiety or overthinking.

Our perception of our baby's movements is meaningful, and a change deserves to be taken seriously.

For me, those weeks between 25 and 28 were an interesting learning experience. I was beginning to know my baby, recognise the different movements and become familiar with the little personality developing inside my womb.

But I was also learning that this relationship was still developing. The movements were becoming stronger and more frequent, and eventually a more recognisable pattern will emerge in the 3rd trimester.

I think we need more open conversations about this.

There is so much variation in pregnancy, and women deserve to understand what is known, what isn't known, and when it is important to seek assessment.

I don't believe informed pregnancy care should be about blindly following instructions. It should be about understanding our bodies, having access to good information, and being supported to make informed decisions and deeply learn to listen to our babys and bodies and intuition.

And sometimes, that also means knowing when to ask for help.

Resources and further reading

If you are interested in exploring this subject further, these are some resources I recommend:

1. The Great Birth Rebellion, Dr Melanie Jackson: Episode 226: Is My Baby Moving Normally During Pregnancy? . A really interesting discussion of the evidence, current recommendations and fetal movement awareness.

2. Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists: Reduced Fetal Movements, Green-top Guideline No. 57 . The updated 2026 clinical guideline, including the research behind current recommendations.

3. RCOG patient information: Your Baby's Movements in Pregnancy .

4. NHS: Your Baby's Movements . A helpful overview of what to expect and when to seek professional assessment.