Counting the movements
A 'kick chart' is a graph or grid printed on a piece of paper with spaces to record the daily movements of your baby, usually after about 28 weeks of the pregnancy. In Australia, kick charts are mainly used for women who express concern about their baby's movements or if they have a health condition or pregnancy complications that may put their baby at increased risk of being unwell after birth, distressed during the labour, or to help prevent them
dying during the pregnancy. In other countries (such as the USA) kick charts are often a routine part of care for all women during late pregnancy.
The concept of monitoring an unborn baby's movements first came about during the 1970's. It was thought that if a pregnant woman took note of how often her baby moved each day (or within a certain time period), this may be one way of predicting if her baby would be unwell (or even die before birth). During the 1980's and 1990's, there have been several small studies indicating a possible advantage of women doing kick charts (either routinely or if 'at risk' for health problems), but so far there are no large studies to definitely prove their benefits. In one study it was suggested that up to 10% of women will notice that their babies have reduced movements, and possibly up to 50% of those babies may show signs of
distress during labour or become unwell after the birth.
The kick charts used today have not changed much since they were first introduced. They aim to provide a general guideline for how active a baby should be. However, there are no standard criteria used to truly define what sufficient (or insufficient) movement is, making their use quite controversial. However, because recording a baby's movements is inexpensive, non-invasive and can be done at home, the trend for using a kick chart routinely has continued in many maternity care settings.
Some women like to use kick charts and find them very reassuring.