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Subjective recording of fetal movements. II. Screening of a pregnant population; methodological aspects

Valentin, Lil LU orcid and Marsal, Karel LU (1986) In Acta Obstetricia et Gynecologica Scandinavica 65(6). p.639-644
Abstract
1914 women were asked to count fetal movements for 15 minutes every evening from the 28th week of pregnancy until parturition. An individual lowest limit for number of fetal movements was calculated from the first five counts. The women were instructed to contact the maternity ward for fetal evaluation as soon as their count fell below the lowest limit on two consecutive evenings (alarm signal). 79% of the women did record fetal movements, the proportion of those who did so being significantly higher in nulliparae and women 20-35 years old than in multiparae, teenagers and women older than 35 years. The mean duration of the registration period was 11.4 (SD 3.2) weeks and the median interval from the end of the registration period to... (More)
1914 women were asked to count fetal movements for 15 minutes every evening from the 28th week of pregnancy until parturition. An individual lowest limit for number of fetal movements was calculated from the first five counts. The women were instructed to contact the maternity ward for fetal evaluation as soon as their count fell below the lowest limit on two consecutive evenings (alarm signal). 79% of the women did record fetal movements, the proportion of those who did so being significantly higher in nulliparae and women 20-35 years old than in multiparae, teenagers and women older than 35 years. The mean duration of the registration period was 11.4 (SD 3.2) weeks and the median interval from the end of the registration period to delivery was 0.32 weeks. 31% of the women with an alarm signal on their Fetal Movement Charts never reported the decrease in the fetal movements count. 30% of the women who did report a reduction in the number of fetal movements did so despite the absence of an alarm signal. We conclude that most pregnant women are willing and able to count fetal movements but that they have difficulty in following the instructions concerning when to report a decrease in number of fetal movements. (Less)
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author
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organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Acta Obstetricia et Gynecologica Scandinavica
volume
65
issue
6
pages
639 - 644
publisher
Wiley-Blackwell
external identifiers
  • scopus:0023024953
ISSN
1600-0412
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
f65a6b1d-47f0-4140-b2f3-21c488a71122 (old id 1103638)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 15:27:58
date last changed
2021-01-03 05:01:22
@article{f65a6b1d-47f0-4140-b2f3-21c488a71122,
  abstract     = {{1914 women were asked to count fetal movements for 15 minutes every evening from the 28th week of pregnancy until parturition. An individual lowest limit for number of fetal movements was calculated from the first five counts. The women were instructed to contact the maternity ward for fetal evaluation as soon as their count fell below the lowest limit on two consecutive evenings (alarm signal). 79% of the women did record fetal movements, the proportion of those who did so being significantly higher in nulliparae and women 20-35 years old than in multiparae, teenagers and women older than 35 years. The mean duration of the registration period was 11.4 (SD 3.2) weeks and the median interval from the end of the registration period to delivery was 0.32 weeks. 31% of the women with an alarm signal on their Fetal Movement Charts never reported the decrease in the fetal movements count. 30% of the women who did report a reduction in the number of fetal movements did so despite the absence of an alarm signal. We conclude that most pregnant women are willing and able to count fetal movements but that they have difficulty in following the instructions concerning when to report a decrease in number of fetal movements.}},
  author       = {{Valentin, Lil and Marsal, Karel}},
  issn         = {{1600-0412}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{6}},
  pages        = {{639--644}},
  publisher    = {{Wiley-Blackwell}},
  series       = {{Acta Obstetricia et Gynecologica Scandinavica}},
  title        = {{Subjective recording of fetal movements. II. Screening of a pregnant population; methodological aspects}},
  volume       = {{65}},
  year         = {{1986}},
}