Foetal kick charts, used to determine if a pregnancy¹ is progressing well, are inaccurate² and should be discontinued, according to Irish researchers.

爱尔兰研究人员称，用于检测怀孕是否发展良好的胎动统计是不准确的，应该停止。

A pregnant woman should feel her baby move every day

The charts are used by around 5% of doctors in the UK but are more common in the Republic of Ireland and the US.

Researchers from Cork³ University say the charts rely on the mother's perceptions（知觉作用） and may lead to miscounts of a baby's movements.

They recommend checking the foetal（胎儿的） heart rate instead.

'Anxiety'

The research published in the journal, The Obstetrician and Gynaecologist, says a reduction of foetal movements causes concern and anxiety for both the mother and her doctor.

Mothers usually report feeling the baby move from 20 weeks into the pregnancy and should then feel some sort of movement every day right up to the birth.

Around 15% of pregnancies⁴ are assessed in hospitals because the mother is concerned that her baby is not moving well.

Decreased movements for more than 24 hours could indicate that the baby is unwell or has a number of conditions including severe growth restriction⁵.

Lack of guidelines

The researchers from Cork University College Maternity⁶ Hospital carried out an anonymous⁷（匿名的） online questionnaire（调查表） of around 100 Irish obstetricians（产科医师） and found that only a third had a clinical practice guideline for dealing⁸ with reduced foetal movements.

In the UK, 70% of obstetricians have these guidelines.

Dr Julia Unterscheider, who led the research, said foetal kick charts did not compare well to more modern methods such as measuring the foetal heart rate with a cardiotocograph（分娩监护仪） (CTG) and ultrasound（超声）.

She said: "We suggest that a careful history and examination together with a CTG are used to confirm foetal wellbeing.

"Ultrasound evaluation⁹ is recommended when babies are at and beyond their due date, or when examination of the mother's abdomen¹⁰（腹部） suggest that the baby is small.

"Kick charts, which are in use in many maternity units worldwide, are of no benefit to reducing poor outcomes in low-risk pregnant women - a mother's subjective¹¹ perception（主官知觉） of diminished movements is a better predictor of problems."

Pat O'Brien, of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, welcomed the study and said it was important to monitor the babies movements: "It's like an early warning, nine out of 10 times there won't be anything wrong."

He said: "You sometimes can't feel them because you are too active and I tell mothers if it gets to the middle of the afternoon and you still can't feel anything, find some place quiet.

"Sit down and concentrate on the babies' movements.

"Push the baby around gently and if you are still worried come up to the hospital.

"Don't tell yourself to sleep on it and see what it's like in the morning - come straight up."