Parents told to seek help when baby stops moving, but new study warns “wild” kicking is also a danger sign

A UNISA study has found around three in every six stillbirths could be stopped if parents heed new warnings from the womb.

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HALF of Australia’s stillbirths could be prevented through a new warning to mothers, according to an Adelaide researcher involved in a world-first study.

The international study of 533 women identified for the first time that the foetus often struggled vigorously immediately before stillbirth and its kicking strength weakened, UniSA’s Associate Professor Jane Warland said.

She said the study, which she co-authored, added two important warnings to the usual advice that mothers should watch only for less movement by the foetus. These are to watch for vigorous struggling and for weaker kicking.

“The message is immediately report any change in the unborn baby’s movements, such as a sudden flurry of increased baby activity that mums would describe using words like ‘crazy’ ‘wild’, ‘ballistic’ or “nuts’,” Assoc Prof Warland said.

“Women in our study often reported this kind of movement in the days and hours prior to their baby’s death, so if the woman appreciates this as a warning sign of a baby in trouble, there may be a short window of opportunity for her to seek immediate care and possible intervention to prevent foetal death.”

Half of Australia’s stillbirths could be prevented through a new warning to mothers.

About six pregnancies end in stillbirth each day in Australia.

Assoc Prof Warland said the study, based on surveys of mothers including Australians, compared the experience of mothers who had delivered healthy babies and those that had a stillbirth.

“It shows the importance of the maternity care provider, be that midwife, obstetrician or GP, reinforcing the importance of the woman getting to know her unborn baby,” she said.

“Women whose pregnancy ended in stillbirth (had been) less likely to check foetal movements.”

Australian Medical Association SA president Professor William Tam said if any pregnant woman was worried about changes in her baby’s usual movement, she should contact her obstetrician.

Assoc Prof Warland said the new warnings to parents was not just to look out for less activity, but also to watch for:

FOETAL movements becoming weaker.

ANY change in pattern.

A SUDDEN flurry of increased activity.

CHANGE in hiccupping pattern.

ANY reduction in the number of times the baby usually moved.

Assoc Prof Warland said the study began after a comment by a mother at a forum for women who had lost babies to stillbirth, who noted that her baby “went nuts” the night before his death and wondered if this signified a problem.

Assoc Prof Warland said the majority of stillbirths in high-income countries occurred among women without established risk factors.

“So the identification of risk factors which can actually be identified and managed in pregnancy is a priority in stillbirth prevention research,” she said.

The study is published in the journal BioMed Central Pregnancy and Childbirth.