Article: Fetal Movement Counting and Perinatal Mortality

Citation: Bellussi, Federica, et al. “Fetal Movement Counting and Perinatal Mortality.” Obstetrics & Gynecology, vol. 135, no. 2, Feb. 2020, pp. 453–462., https://doi.org/10.1097/aog.0000000000003645.

• Currently, there is no accepted qualitative or quantitative definition of decreased fetal movement. Some of the most commonly used are:
  
  Less than 10 movements within 2 hours
  No movement over 24 hours
  
  
• Decreased fetal movement is associated with many complications including but not limited to stillbirth, growth restrictions, placental insufficiency, congenital anomalies, and neonatal mortality
  
  
• This systematic review studied whether maternal fetal movement counting could prevent poor pregnancy outcomes.
  
  
• 468,000 fetuses were included across 5 studies in which mothers were broken up into standard care or instruction for fetal movement counting.
  
  
• They found no statistically significant difference in neonatal death, five-minute APGAR scores, or NICU admissions.
  
  
• There was a small but significant increase in preterm birth and induction of labor in the intervention group.