Correlation study between increased fetal movement during the third trimester and neonatal outcome

Abstract

BackgroundWe aimed to analyze the correlation between increased fetal movements in the third trimester and neonatal outcomes.MethodsWe enrolled pregnant women (n = 219) who reported increased/excessive fetal movements in the third trimester in our hospital. A control group of healthy women (n = 278) who had undergone regular childbirth and delivery in our hospital during the same period and did not report abnormal fetal movements were also recruited. All pregnant women underwent fetal non-stress test. We analyzed the neonatal weight, appearance, pulse, grimace, activity, and respiration score, degrees of amniotic fluid contamination, amniotic fluid volume, conditions of umbilical cord around the neck and cord length, and incidence of small for gestational age. In addition, the incidence of preterm delivery, cesarean section rate, postpartum hemorrhage, and other postpartum complications were also analyzed. We then analyzed the correlation between increased/excessive fetal activity and neonatal outcomes.ResultsWomen with complaints of increased/excessive fetal movements exhibited increased fetal movements mainly around 31 and 39 weeks of gestation. Several pregnancy variables, including number of previous delivery, gestational age (less than 34 weeks and more than 37 weeks) and vaginal birth rate, were associated with increased/excessive fetal movements. In addition, women who reported increased/excessive fetal movements had higher odds of large for gestational age (LGA), particularly those with gestational age over 37 weeks.ConclusionIncreased/excessive fetal movements may be used to predict adverse neonatal outcome such as LGA.

Investigation of the outcome of pregnancies complicated by increased fetal movements and their relation to underlying causes – A prospective cohort study

“…There are few other prospective studies of increased or excessive movements for comparison of outcomes. In their larger contemporaneous cohort study, Huang et al also observed no increase in the frequency of small-for-gestational-age infants, neonatal unit admission or evidence of neonatal compromise 13. They reported increased frequency of infants with birthweight >90th centile, which was not evident in our cohort.…”

“…The participating maternity units serve an ethnically and socially diverse population, suggesting these findings may be generalizable. However, the study recruited fewer women than anticipated, the incidence of 0.45% of women being much lower than 9.6% reported in a prospective study from China 13 and 6.9% of controls in MiNESS 4 . As women perceiving IFM are not routinely asked to contact maternity services in the UK, women perceiving this symptom may not have been recruited.…”

“…Thus, to evaluate further the association between IFMs and adverse pregnancy outcomes, and to characterize any underlying potential pathologies, prospective studies are needed. The only prospective study to date included 219 women who had IFM in the third trimester of pregnancy; an association with large‐for‐ gestational‐age infants was found, but no other adverse outcomes 13 …”

“…The only prospective study to date included 219 women who had IFM in the third trimester of pregnancy; an association with large-for-gestational-age infants was found, but no other adverse outcomes. 13 We aimed to investigate the pregnancy characteristics and outcomes of women reporting IFMs compared with the total obstetric population in the respective settings, and to determine whether there is any evidence of underlying pathology of the placenta or umbilical cord, or evidence of intrauterine hypoxia, intrauterine infection or inflammation, which could explain the previously observed association with adverse outcomes.…”

Correlation between newborn size and gross fetal movement as counted by a fetal movement acceleration measurement recorder

“…A new finding from this study was that full-term newborn weight has a positive correlation with the fetal movement index. Recently, Huang et al 8 reported that pregnant women who reported increased/excessive fetal movement had a higher probability of giving birth to a large-for-gestational-age newborn. Our results are consistent with theirs.…”