Will the fetus move when it is asleep?

Around five months of pregnancy, the mother will feel slight fetal movements. In addition, some scientific instruments can detect obvious fetal movements. As the baby grows, the fetal movements will become more and more obvious. When the baby is about to be born, the fetal movements may even cause pain to the mother. So, if the fetus falls asleep, will the fetal movements still occur?

Will the fetus move when it is asleep?

Fetal movements will manifest differently at different stages. Each baby's activities in the belly are divided into three states: quiet sleep, active sleep and wakefulness. In each state, there are subtle fetal movements that the expectant mother cannot feel, such as opening and closing palms, moving lips, blinking eyes, etc.

The fetus in the quiet sleep period is in a complete sleep state. During quiet sleep, the fetus will only have narrow fetal heart rate oscillations. Except for being able to observe from the fetal heart rate monitor, the expectant mother will not have any obvious feeling; the active sleep period is a bit like a "half-asleep and half-awake" state, with wider fetal heart rate oscillations and the fetus's eyeballs will move, but the expectant mother still cannot feel any fetal movement; and in the awake period, the fetus will have obvious movements, the fetal heart rate will also accelerate, and the expectant mother can clearly feel the fetal movement.

The fetus's cycle is different, and the time of waking and sleeping is also different. Generally speaking, the fetus' sleep time ranges from about 20 to 75 minutes, and then wakes up and moves around, and may fall asleep again. The fetus sleeps for a long time, but it is all fragmented sleep.

The fetus can actually move at 7 to 8 weeks, but its limbs are not yet fully developed and the brain's nerves are not fully developed. It is just waving around aimlessly or making some reflex movements of the body. And because the fetus is still very small, the expectant mother naturally cannot feel the fetal movement. Some sensitive expectant mothers can feel slight fetal movements from the 4th month of pregnancy. By this month, most expectant mothers can almost feel fetal movements. During weeks 25 to 32, fetal movements are the strongest and most frequent. Expectant mothers can observe intermittent bulges on their belly, and sometimes the baby's strength is so great that expectant mothers may even feel some pain.

When the expectant mother has a full meal, her blood sugar level rises, and the nutrients and blood sugar are transferred to the fetus through the placenta and the umbilical cord. When the fetus's blood sugar level is high, it will be more active. Conversely, when the expectant mother is hungry, her blood sugar level drops, and the fetus will also become lazy and its activity frequency will also decrease. In addition, since expectant mothers are more relaxed when taking a bath, the fetus will show more obvious activities after sensing this relaxed and happy mood. Generally speaking, fetal movements are most frequent between 9 pm and 1 am. At this time, in addition to the fact that the mother has eaten a full dinner and her blood sugar concentration has increased, giving the fetus strength to move, it may also be because the mother is mostly in a state of rest at this time and has less daily activities, so she can naturally feel the fetal movement more.