There's no number of kicks that applies to every baby, at any week, per hour or per day. What the guidance gives you instead is a way to get to know your own baby's pattern, and one rule: if movements slow down or change, contact your midwife, doctor or maternity unit now.
No set number
The NHS says there's no set number of movements you should feel each day, because every baby is different, and that you do not need to count them. RCOG puts it the same way: there's no specific number of movements that is considered enough. What matters is your baby's individual pattern, and any reduction or change in it.
Pregnancy, Birth and Baby, the Australian Government's pregnancy service, also says there's no set number, and that for this reason counting kicks or recording them on a chart is no longer recommended there. NHS inform, Scotland's health information service, says the most important thing is to get to know what your baby is doing and when they're usually active.
Ten movements: a time, not a target
In the US, the approach is to time movements rather than to expect a number. Count the Kicks asks you to start a timer and note how long it takes to feel 10 movements, at a time when your baby is usually active, preferably the same time each day, and to compare each count with your own earlier ones. After a few days, you see how long your baby usually takes.
Research articles describe ten movements within two hours as the definition of reduced movements recommended by ACOG when movement counting is done (Tveit et al., 2009). ACOG's own patient information says there are different ways to do kick counts, and that your health care professional will tell you how often to count and when to get in touch.
Count the Kicks adds that every baby and every pregnancy is different, and that the key is knowing how long your own baby usually takes to reach ten. If you count at the same time each day, it should take about the same amount of time.
Per hour, per day, at 28 or 36 weeks
Searches often ask for a number per hour or per day, or for one week, such as 24, 28, 32 or 36 weeks. None of the sources this guide draws on gives one. What they describe is how movements change over the weeks:
Most women first become aware of their baby moving at 18 to 20 weeks, and the NHS gives a window of 16 to 24 weeks (RCOG, NHS). If by 24 weeks you have never felt your baby move, contact your midwife or maternity unit (RCOG). Movements tend to increase until about 32 weeks and then stay about the same, although the type of movement may change nearer your due date (RCOG, Tommy's). You should keep feeling your baby move right up to and during labour (NHS, RCOG).
Afternoon and evening are usually your baby's busiest times, and your baby has sleep periods, day and night, that mostly last 20 to 40 minutes (RCOG).
If a quiet spell worries you, contact your midwife, doctor or maternity unit. Never wait it out.
Your baby's own pattern
Both approaches come back to the same thing: your own baby's pattern, compared with your own earlier days, never with anyone else's baby. A count is a note about your day, not an exam, and no number is a pass.
If you'd like to time a count, our free kick counter does it in your browser, and how to count your baby's kicks walks through one step by step.
When to call
Your baby is moving less than usual (NHS). You can't feel your baby moving any more (NHS). There's a change to your baby's usual pattern of movements (NHS). Movements feel weaker, or a count takes longer than your baby usually takes (Count the Kicks).
Contact your midwife, doctor or maternity unit now. Do not wait until tomorrow, even if it's the middle of the night (NHS), and do not use a number, a count or an app to decide. Reaching ten doesn't outweigh a feeling that something has changed. What to do.