Association Between Gestational Weeks, Initial Maternal Perception of Fetal Movement, and Individual Interoceptive Differences in Pregnant Women: Cross-Sectional Study

TL;DR

This study explores how early pregnant women detect fetal movement and how it relates to their ability to sense internal body signals.

Contribution

It introduces a potential method to evaluate interoception using the timing of fetal movement awareness in pregnancy.

Findings

Earlier detection of fetal movement correlates with better interoceptive sensitivity in pregnant women.

The correlation is stronger in first-time pregnant women compared to those who have given birth before.

Heartbeat-counting task scores were significantly linked to the gestational week of first fetal movement awareness.

Abstract

Interoception encompasses the conscious awareness of homeostasis in the body. Given that fetal movement awareness is a component of interoception in pregnant women, the timing of initial detection of fetal movement may indicate individual differences in interoceptive sensitivity.

The aim of this study is to determine whether the association between the gestational week of initial movement awareness and interoception can be a convenient evaluation index for interoception in pregnant women.

A cross-sectional study was conducted among 32 pregnant women aged 20 years or older at 22-29 weeks of gestation with stable hemodynamics in the Obstetric Outpatient Department. Interoception was assessed using the heartbeat-counting task, with gestational weeks at the first awareness of fetal movement recorded via a questionnaire. Spearman rank correlation was used to compare the gestational weeks at the first awareness of fetal movement and heartbeat-counting task scores.

A significant negative correlation was found between the gestational weeks at the first fetal movement awareness and heartbeat-counting task performance among all participants (r=–0.43, P=.01) and among primiparous women (r=–0.53, P=.03) but not among multiparous women.

Individual differences in interoception appear to correlate with the differences observed in the timing of the first awareness of fetal movement.

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