Stillbirth affects 8 in every 1000 hospital births in Ontario. It can have a devastating impact on families including intense and enduring feelings of grief for parents, disruption of family relationships, economic loss, negative consequences for surviving children and post-traumatic stress disorder in subsequent pregnancies. There is growing evidence that a significant number of stillbirths could be prevented if maternal concerns about decreased fetal movement were identified earlier. Although several studies have examined the accuracy of maternal perception for monitoring fetal movement, results from these studies vary across the literature. Moreover, the impact of obesity on maternal perception of fetal movement has remained largely unexplored.

In this prospective cohort study, we will assessing the accuracy of maternal perception of fetal movement by examining in pregnant women, what proportion of fetal movements are perceived by the mother, compared to those observed on ultrasound. Furthermore, we will explore how obesity impacts maternal perception of fetal movement. Real time ultrasound scans will be performed on participants during which they will be asked to press a key to indicate when they perceive movement. Scans will be recorded as a video file to be retrospectively analyzed.

Contact for this study:
Beth Murray-Davis (bmurray@mcmaster.ca)