Chorevia

Day 161 of 280 · 23 weeks

If the kicking slows

Last reviewed · 3 min read · 3 sources · Plain-text version

Twenty-three weeks. Kicks you can see are coming; today you write down exactly what you'd say, and to whom, if they ever slowed.

Size this week
about the size of a large mango
Length this week
around 28.9 cm from head to heel
A South Asian woman in a loose t-shirt and leggings with a clear bump, sitting on the edge of a bed with one hand on her belly and a phone face-down beside her, soft afternoon light.

Twenty-three weeks, and the start of your sixth month. The kicks are about to become something other people can see. Today is about the one thing the NHS asks you to notice about them.

Your baby

One large ripe mango on a plain pale wooden table, soft window light.

Your baby is around 28.9cm long from head to heel, about the size of a large mango, and the limbs are now in proportion (NHS). Over the next few weeks you will feel kicks and see your tummy move (NHS). The page's one instruction about those kicks is short: talk to your midwife if the baby's kicking slows (NHS).

Your body

Breathlessness may increase around now because the baby presses on the lungs, and rib pain may occur as the rib cage expands (NHS). Neither is a reason to stop moving: the NHS still suggests 150 minutes of exercise a week, starting with 10 minutes a day (NHS).

The CDC's HEAR HER list of urgent maternal warning signs includes "Baby's movement stopping or slowing during pregnancy" (CDC). The same page says there is no specific number of baby movements considered normal; a change in movement is what matters (CDC). That is why the call matters more than any count.

Try today

  1. The slow-kick call

    Time: 5 minutes

    1. Write the number you'd call about the baby's movements: your midwife, your provider's office, or the maternity unit. Save it in your phone under a name you'd find in a hurry.

    2. Write the words: "I'm 23 weeks and my baby's movements have slowed. I'd like to be checked." That is the whole script; the NHS says to talk to your midwife if the kicking slows (NHS).

    3. Add the after-hours number, so a quiet evening never becomes a wait until morning.

    4. Tell your partner where the note lives. If you're not sure whether the change is real, the uncertainty is the reason to call, not the reason to wait.

    Make it work:

    Nobody at the unit minds a call that turns out to be nothing. The CDC's line is to contact a provider if something seems wrong, even if it isn't on the list (CDC).

Watch for

  • Normal

    kicks that are still faint, and busy days when you don't notice them; the NHS says the kicks you can see are coming over the next few weeks (NHS).

    Call your provider

    if the baby's kicking slows (NHS); the CDC lists the baby's movement stopping or slowing as an urgent warning sign (CDC).

  • Normal

    the symptoms of earlier weeks carrying on, from indigestion to leg cramps (NHS).

    Call your provider

    about any bleeding; the NHS says to seek advice for it (NHS).

  • Normal

    rib pain as the rib cage expands (NHS).

    Call your provider

    for severe belly pain that doesn't go away (CDC).

For you

The sentence to keep is the one about the number: there is no specific number of baby movements considered normal, and a change in movement is what matters (CDC). Your baseline is yours. The baby who kicks after dinner and the one who never seems to stop are both normal until they change.

So the job this month isn't counting. It's noticing, and that happens on its own once you know what your baby usually does. Formal movement tracking starts at 28 weeks in the Office on Women's Health schedule (OWH); until then, you're learning the pattern.

If you're the partner: ask her, once this week, when the baby is usually busiest. Then you know the baseline too, and you can be the one who says "call" on a day she's talking herself out of it.

Sources

This guide is general education that summarizes published research and guidance from groups like the American Academy of Pediatrics, the CDC, and the WHO. It isn’t medical advice, and every child develops on their own timeline. Your pediatrician knows your child; if something feels wrong, call them. In an emergency, call 911.

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