Pregnant Alex Jones has encouraged other mums-to-be to get checked if they worry about their baby’s movement, after the TV presenter took herself to hospital.
The One Show host, 41, who is pregnant with her second child, shared a photo on Instagram of herself on a hospital bed. “Hadn’t felt much movement from the baby for a few days, so lying here being monitored,” she wrote.
“If in doubt mammas, ALWAYS check. So reassuring to hear the heartbeat.”
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Jones, who is mum to two-year-old Teddy with her husband Charlie Thompson, shared another message on her Instagram Story adding that everything was fine with her baby.
“His or her little heartbeat was going like the clappers, but good to check!” she wrote.
Pregnant women have previously been urged not to count the number of times their baby kicks. Most believe they should be expecting 10 kicks an hour – however this is a myth, and one which the charity Kicks Count, formerly named Count The Kicks, is keen to dispel.
“Our key message is and always has been, that there is no set number of kicks or movements that expectant mums should expect to feel,” Elizabeth Hutton, CEO of Kicks Count said.
“The movements differ with each baby and no set of movements is the same. As long as your baby is moving at a similar rate every day right up to birth, that is what counts.”
The safest and most reliable method of monitoring a baby’s movements, Hutton said, is to encourage the mum to get to know her baby’s own pattern of movement. “She will then be able to determine if her baby has a period of reduced or increased foetal movement.”