Reduced Fetal Movement: What to Do
If your baby is moving less than usual, or the usual pattern has changed, contact your midwife, doctor or maternity unit immediately. Do not wait until the next day, do not wait to finish a kick count, and do not rely on a home heartbeat kit or an app to decide.
Written by the Bumpi Kicks team at Speed AI Labs LLP. Last updated . General information, not reviewed by a clinician, and not medical advice. How we write and check these pages.
Contact your care team now
If your baby is moving less than usual, you cannot feel movement, or the usual pattern has changed, call your midwife, doctor or maternity unit immediately, even in the middle of the night. The NHS says not to wait until the next day, and the RCOG says you must not wait if you are over 28 weeks.
If you cannot reach them, or you are worried about your own health, call your local emergency number.
What the guidance says
Act straight away
The NHS says to call your midwife or maternity unit immediately if your baby moves less than usual, you cannot feel movement, or the pattern changes, even if it is the middle of the night.
Do not go to sleep on it
The RCOG says never to go to sleep ignoring a reduction or change in your baby's movements.
Over 28 weeks, do not wait
The RCOG says you must contact your midwife or maternity unit immediately and must not wait until the next day.
Home heartbeat kits are not a check
The NHS says not to use a home Doppler to check your baby's heartbeat yourself, and the RCOG says not to rely on home kits.
Every time it happens, call again
If reduced movement happens again after a check, contact your midwife or maternity unit again.
Common questions
Should I eat or lie down and count again before I call?
Some counting guidance, such as Cleveland Clinic's, lists ways to prompt movement while you count, like eating or lying on your left side. The NHS and the RCOG say that if movements are reduced or changed you should contact your care team immediately, and neither tells you to try other things first. If your baby's movements have changed, call now.
Can Bumpi Kicks tell me whether my baby is in trouble?
No. It records the taps you make and cannot tell you whether your baby is well. If movement feels different, call your care team and do not use the app to decide.
Sources
These are the sources behind the statements on this page. We opened each one and checked it on the date shown.
- NHS, Your baby's movements, page last reviewed 8 July 2024
The NHS says to call your midwife or maternity unit immediately if your baby moves less than usual, you cannot feel movement, or the usual pattern changes, and not to wait until the next day.
Limits: NHS advice is written for the UK. Advice elsewhere differs, and your own midwife or doctor comes first.
Checked . Read directly from the source.
- Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, Your baby's movements in pregnancy (patient information based on Green-top Guideline No. 57, February 2011)
The RCOG says that if your baby moves less than usual or the pattern changes, it is essential to contact your midwife or maternity unit immediately, and that over 28 weeks you must not wait until the next day.
Limits: UK patient information published February 2019 and based on a 2011 guideline. The RCOG published a second edition of the guideline in 2026, which this site has not read. Advice elsewhere differs, and your own midwife or doctor comes first.
Checked . Read directly from the source.
- NHS, Your baby's movements, page last reviewed 8 July 2024
The NHS says not to use a home Doppler (a heartbeat listening kit) to try to check your baby's heartbeat yourself.
Limits: NHS advice is written for the UK. Advice elsewhere differs, and your own midwife or doctor comes first.
Checked . Read directly from the source.
- Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, Your baby's movements in pregnancy (patient information based on Green-top Guideline No. 57, February 2011)
The RCOG says not to rely on home kits for listening to your baby's heartbeat, and never to go to sleep ignoring a reduction or change in your baby's movements.
Limits: UK patient information published February 2019 and based on a 2011 guideline. The RCOG published a second edition of the guideline in 2026, which this site has not read. Advice elsewhere differs, and your own midwife or doctor comes first.
Checked . Read directly from the source.
- Cleveland Clinic, Kick Counts (Fetal Movement Counting): Purpose & How To, page last updated 05/08/2026
Cleveland Clinic lists ways to prompt movement if you have not felt it, such as a walk, a sweet drink, a meal, lying on your left side or loud music, and says to contact your provider if you still cannot feel movement.
Limits: The NHS and the RCOG, listed on this site, say to contact your care team immediately about reduced or changed movement and do not tell you to try other things first.
Checked . Read directly from the source.