Measurement of Maternal Mindful Awareness of Fetal Movement

Abstract

Introduction:Decreased fetal movement is a common concern late in pregnancy that may be associated with increased fetal morbidity and mortality. Limited research suggests a relationship between maternal psychological factors and perception of fetal movement. The goal of this study was to test the reliability and external validity of a novel self-report instrument for maternal mindful awareness of fetal movement.Methods: Pregnant women who were at 20 weeks' gestation or later and feeling regular fetal movement (N = 497) were recruited online through a commercial pregnancy website to complete an internet survey from April to May 2016. The online survey included demographic and pregnancy characteristics, psychological and mindfulness measures, and investigator-developed items on mindful awareness of fetal movement. Reliability and validity of the instrument were tested with exploratory factor analysis, correlations with psychological variables, and hierarchical linear regression.Results: Exploratory factor analysis of mindful awareness of fetal movement items using principal components analysis showed a 2-factor structure, noticing and distracted, with internal consistency of ␣ equal to .69 and .57, respectively. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis showed that noticing was associated with increased gestational age, mindfulness (observing facet), and maternal-fetal attachment. Distracted was associated with increased education level and prenatal anxiety and with decreased mindfulness (nonjudging facet). Discussion:There was moderate internal consistency in the items measuring mindful awareness of fetal movement. Findings suggest relationships between mindful awareness of fetal movement and state mindfulness, maternal-fetal attachment, and prenatal anxiety. More research is needed to further develop items for a mindful awareness of fetal movement scale suitable for research and clinical practice.

A wearable fetal movement detection system for pregnant women

“…Furthermore, the presence of false recognition by the system may be caused by pregnant women’s random limb movement during the measurement process, which generates artifact signals with high similarity to the time-frequency characteristics of fetal movement signals. The active perception of pregnant women self-counting fetal movements has no effect on pregnant women or fetuses ( 27 , 28 ), but the method is susceptible to many factors such as the surrounding environment and personal emotions ( 29–31 ), and the short-term detection data is highly reliable. At the same time, some weak fetal movement signals may not be fully captured by the acceleration sensor mounted on the pregnant woman’s abdomen, resulting in a low real detection recognition rate.…”