When will I feel my baby move and kick?

Feeling your baby kicking is one of the highlights of pregnancy. Although every baby is different when it comes to foetal movement. You will start to feel your baby moving between 16 and 24 weeks of pregnancy. The truth is that baby kicks are more like flutters at first, and you may not feel your baby move until halfway through pregnancy. But by the third trimester, your baby will be making some big moves that are impossible to ignore.

You could record your baby’s movements in a notebook.

• At 18-20 weeks – Here is the first milestone. You might feel your baby’s first movements between weeks 18 and 20. These first movements are known as quickening, and they may feel like butterflies in your stomach or a growling stomach.
• At 20-23 weeks – At 23 weeks pregnant, your baby is getting stronger and more active. It’s now easier to tell that those little kicks are actually your baby and not just gas bubbles.
• At 24-28 weeks – Your baby’s movements will be more noticeable around 24 weeks as your baby is growing and getting stronger. Pokes and kicks becoming increasingly frequent, especially so around bedtime.
• At 29-31 weeks – Your baby continues to be very active at this stage, and you’ll probably be aware of lots of movements. There’s no set number of your baby’s movements you should feel each day – every pregnancy is different. You should be aware of your baby’s own pattern of movements.
• At 32-35 weeks – At 35 weeks, as the third trimester progresses, you may notice less frequent movement and that is completely normal. As your baby grows and starts gaining fat, they don’t have as much room to shift around anymore. Most babies are in the head-down position by 32 weeks, although some babies stay in the breech position (bottom down) until the last month. Your baby is about 40cm long (from head to toe) and weighs about 1.8 kg.
• At 36-38 weeks – If you’re 36 weeks pregnant, you’re in month 9 of your pregnancy. Your baby may already have moved head down into your pelvis, which means that they’re in position for labour (or “engaged”). However this doesn’t mean that labour’s on the way – it could still be weeks away. First-time moms can experience this drop 2 to 4 weeks before childbirth.
• At 39-40 weeks – Your little one doesn’t have much room to move around in your uterus now. If you are feeling less movement than usual, you can always check with your gynaecologist for reassurance. The baby seems restless and eager to come out of the womb when you reach this stage of the pregnancy. Generally, a full-term pregnancy is 40 weeks long. So here is wishing you easy delivery and healthy baby!

In summary, the timing of when you will feel foetal movement can vary, but most women will start feeling movements between 16-25 weeks of pregnancy. Foetal movement should become more frequent and regular throughout the second and third trimesters, but may slow down towards the end of the third trimester. If you have any concerns about your baby’s movements, it’s important to speak with your healthcare provider.