Most people start to feel their baby move somewhere between 16 and 24 weeks. When it happens for you depends on a few things — whether you've been pregnant before, where your placenta is, and how busy your days are.
The usual window
The NHS says you should start to feel your baby move between 16 and 24 weeks of pregnancy. The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) puts it a little more precisely: most women first become aware of their baby moving at 18 to 20 weeks.
Those first movements are often called quickening. There's no single week when they arrive — the window is wide, and where you fall in it says nothing about your baby on its own.
First pregnancy, or not
If this is your first baby, you might not feel movements until after 20 weeks (NHS, RCOG, Tommy's). If you've been pregnant before, you may feel movements as early as 16 weeks (RCOG, Tommy's) — you already know what you're waiting for.
What the first movements feel like
Early movements can feel like a gentle swirling or fluttering. As your pregnancy goes on, you may feel kicks and jerky movements (NHS). RCOG describes movements as a kick, flutter, swish or roll.
First flutters often feel like bubbles — many only notice them lying still.
Why you might feel them later
Where your placenta is. If it's at the front of your womb, it may not be so easy to feel movements (RCOG). There's more in our guide to an anterior placenta. Which way your baby lies. If your baby's back is towards the front of your womb, you may feel fewer movements than if it lies alongside your own back. Head down or bottom first makes no difference to whether you feel them (RCOG). How busy you are. You're less likely to notice movements when you're active or busy (RCOG).
As the weeks go on
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).
Once you've got to know your baby's movements, counting them is one way of keeping track — and what counts as a kick changes a little as space gets tighter.
If you haven't felt your baby move by 24 weeks
RCOG advises that if by 24 weeks you have never felt your baby move, you should contact your midwife or maternity unit, who will check your baby's heartbeat. And at any stage, if movements you've been feeling slow down or change, contact them straight away — here's what to do.