Cardiff Count to Ten and Other Counting Methods
If your baby's movements change, call your care team instead of finishing a count. Kick counting methods differ in what you count and when you report. The count to ten, or Cardiff method, counts 10 movements from a set time each day, with a report if the 10 take longer than usual or fewer than 10 come in 12 hours. The 10-in-2 method shortens that to 2 hours, and Mindfetalness drops counting for daily attention.
Written by the Bumpi Kicks team at Speed AI Labs LLP. Last updated . General information, not reviewed by a clinician, and not medical advice. How we write and check these pages.
If your baby's movements change, contact your care team now
Call your midwife, doctor or maternity unit immediately if your baby moves less than usual, you cannot feel movement, or the usual pattern changes. Do not finish a count first. Use the method your own midwife or doctor gave you, if they gave you one.
If you cannot reach them, or you are worried about your own health, call your local emergency number.
What to know about the methods
The 12-hour count
A 1976 study of the daily fetal movement count (DFMC) took fewer than 10 movements in 12 hours as below normal, based on counts by women who went on to have healthy babies. The RCOG notes that the most widely used alarm limit was developed in women at high risk counting in hospital, so it may not apply to a general population.
The 2-hour limit came from one US study
In a 1989 pilot, women took 20.9 minutes on average to feel 10 movements, and the study told women to come in if 10 had not come after 2 hours.
Mindfetalness does not count
Mindfetalness asks women to notice the character, strength and frequency of movements for 15 minutes a day when the baby is awake, from 28 weeks, without counting. A Swedish trial of 39,865 women linked it to fewer caesarean sections and fewer small babies, with no change in low Apgar scores.
Attention changes what you notice
Across the studies the RCOG cites, the mean time to feel 10 movements ranged from 10 minutes with focused counting to 162 minutes without focusing. A time from a distracted day is not comparable with a focused one.
No method has reliable evidence that it prevents stillbirth
The RCOG's 2026 guideline reviews seven studies of counting and awareness methods and finds insufficient evidence that formal counting lowers perinatal deaths. The 1989 trial of a count-to-ten chart in 68,000 women found similar late death rates with a routine counting policy and with standard care, which could include counting for some women.
Concern overrides any number
The Australian guideline offers counting as an option and says a woman's concern about decreased movements overrides any definition based on numbers. The RCOG says women should know their own baby's pattern.
Counting and awareness methods compared
| Method | What you do | When to report | Source and what it found |
|---|---|---|---|
| Daily fetal movement count (DFMC), 12 hours | Count movements over 12 hours each day. | Fewer than 10 movements in 12 hours. | Pearson and Weaver, 1976. Not a trial: a low count was associated with fetal asphyxia in women at risk. |
| Count to ten (Cardiff method) | From a set time each day, count 10 movements and note when you felt them or how long they took. | If 10 take longer than usual, or fewer than 10 come in 12 hours. | Cochrane review, 2015. A modified count-to-ten chart was used in the 1989 trial of 68,654 women, which found similar late death rates with a routine counting policy and with standard care. |
| 10 movements in 2 hours | Each day, focus and time how long 10 movements take. | If 10 have not come after 2 hours. | Moore and Piacquadio, 1989. Average 20.9 minutes in the pilot. Fewer fetal deaths than an earlier period, with more tests and interventions. Not randomized. |
| Focused 2 hours, three times a week | Focus on movements for 2 hours three times a week. | Fewer than 3 movements. | Neldam, 1983, as the RCOG's 2026 guideline reports it: fewer deaths in a mostly high-risk group, in a quasi-randomized trial. |
| Sadovsky and fixed-period counting | Count the first 4 movements after each meal, or count over a fixed hour. | No report rule in the Cochrane review's description. If movements seem reduced, call your maternity unit now. | Cochrane review, 2015. One small trial compared Sadovsky with the Cardiff method. |
| Mindfetalness | 15 minutes a day when the baby is awake, from 28 weeks, noticing character, strength and frequency without counting. | When movements change. It gives no number. | Akselsson and colleagues, 2020: no change in low Apgar scores, fewer caesarean sections and small babies, more visits for decreased movements. |
| Australian guideline options | From 28 weeks, observe daily: either 15 minutes on your side noting movements, or count 10 movements. | If you count and 10 movements have not come in 2 hours. Any concern overrides any number. | PSANZ and Stillbirth CRE guideline, version 2.4; the observation options are graded B. |
| SOGC kick count | Count movements for 2 hours. | Fewer than 6 movements in 2 hours: contact your provider as soon as possible. | SOGC Pregnancy Info, Canada. It names no source for the number 6. |
Common questions
What is the Cardiff count to ten?
A method in which you count 10 movements from a set time each day and note when you felt them. The Cochrane review describes reporting if the 10 take longer than usual or fewer than 10 come in 12 hours. A modified version was tested in the 1989 trial of 68,654 women, which found similar late death rates with a routine counting policy and with standard care, which could include counting for some women.
What does DFMC mean?
Daily fetal movement count. The 1976 study that evaluated the 12-hour count took fewer than 10 movements in 12 hours as below normal. Later methods use shorter windows, such as 2 hours, and some use no number at all.
Which method is best?
No method has reliable evidence that it prevents stillbirth, and the RCOG's 2026 guideline finds insufficient evidence to recommend counting to set numbers. The NHS says you do not need to count. If your midwife or doctor gives you a method, use theirs.
What is Mindfetalness?
A Swedish method of paying attention to your baby's movements for 15 minutes a day, noticing their character, strength and frequency, without counting. In a trial of 39,865 women it was linked to fewer caesarean sections and fewer small babies.
Which method does Bumpi Kicks use?
Bumpi Kicks counts movements toward a goal of 8, 10 or 12 and shows the elapsed time, so it fits methods that time a number of movements. It does not decide whether a count is normal. Use the number and time your provider gives you.
Sources
These are the sources behind the statements on this page. We opened each one and checked it on the date shown.
- Pearson JF, Weaver JB. Fetal activity and fetal wellbeing: an evaluation. British Medical Journal, 1976;1:1305-7
A 1976 study of the 12-hour daily fetal movement count (DFMC) took fewer than 10 movements in 12 hours as below normal, from counts by women who went on to have healthy babies.
Limits: 61 women recorded 1,654 counts. In women at risk, a low count was associated with fetal asphyxia, and where a baby died, movements diminished and stopped 12 to 48 hours before. It was not a trial. We read the abstract.
Checked . Abstract read at the source.
- Mangesi L, Hofmeyr GJ, Smith V, Smyth RMD. Fetal movement counting for assessment of fetal wellbeing. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 15 October 2015 (background and table 1)
The 2015 Cochrane review describes the count-to-ten method as counting 10 movements from a set time each day and reporting if they take longer than usual or fewer than 10 come in 12 hours.
Limits: It names the Cardiff method (note the first 10 movements and when they were felt), the modified Cardiff count-to-ten chart used in the 1989 trial, and the Sadovsky method (count the first 4 movements after each meal). In a fixed-period method, if fewer than 4 movements come in one hour, counting is repeated for the next hour.
Checked . Read directly from the source.
- Moore TR, Piacquadio K. A prospective evaluation of fetal movement screening to reduce the incidence of antepartum fetal death. American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 1989;160:1075-80
A 1989 US study asked women to time 10 movements; in its pilot the mean was 20.9 minutes, and women who had not felt 10 after 2 hours were told to come in.
Limits: Not randomized. Fetal deaths were 8.7 per 1000 in a 7-month control period and 2.1 per 1000 during the program, with more antenatal tests and interventions. The 2-hour limit was the pilot's mean plus about 5 standard deviations. We read the abstract.
Checked . Abstract read at the source.
- Grant A, Elbourne D, Valentin L, Alexander S. Routine formal fetal movement counting and risk of antepartum late death in normally formed singletons. The Lancet, 12 August 1989
A 1989 cluster trial of 68,000 women found similar late antepartum death rates with and without a routine counting policy; it did not rule out a benefit.
Limits: The authors wrote that at best about 1,250 women would need to count to prevent one unexplained late death, and that an adverse effect is just as likely. Standard care could include selective counting or informal noting of movements.
Checked . Read directly from the source.
- Akselsson A, Lindgren H, Georgsson S, et al. Mindfetalness to increase women's awareness of fetal movements and pregnancy outcomes: a cluster-randomised controlled trial including 39 865 women. BJOG, 2020;127:829-837
A 2020 Swedish cluster trial (39,865 women, 67 clinics) found Mindfetalness did not change low Apgar scores but was linked to fewer caesarean sections and fewer small babies.
Limits: A 2020 sub-analysis in BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth describes the method: a leaflet told women to focus on the character, strength and frequency of movements without counting, for 15 minutes a day when the baby was awake, from 28 weeks. Women in the Mindfetalness group contacted care about decreased movements more often (6.6% against 3.8%). Caesarean sections were 19.0% with Mindfetalness against 20.0% with routine care. The drop in small babies was borderline (relative risk 0.95, 95% interval 0.90 to 1.00). We read the abstracts of both papers.
Checked . Abstract read at the source.
- Perinatal Society of Australia and New Zealand and Centre of Research Excellence in Stillbirth, Clinical practice guideline for the care of women with decreased fetal movements with a singleton pregnancy from 28 weeks' gestation, version 2.4, March 2023 (recommendation 3)
The Australian and New Zealand guideline on decreased fetal movements says women may choose to observe movements daily from 28 weeks, with or without counting, and that a woman who counts should contact her care provider if she has not counted 10 movements in 2 hours.
Limits: Graded B. The same recommendation says a woman's concern about decreased movements overrides any definition based on numbers of movements. The counting option is to count each evening lying on your side, which usually takes around 20 minutes. The other option is 15 minutes on your side noting strength, frequency and character without counting.
Checked . Read directly from the source.
- Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada, Pregnancy Info, Fetal movement and kick counts, no date shown on the page
The SOGC's Pregnancy Info says to count movements for 2 hours, to contact your provider as soon as possible if you do not feel 6, and, with risk factors, to count daily starting at 26 to 32 weeks.
Limits: The page also says movement patterns vary but tend to be consistent for any one baby, that the best time for counting is often in the evening, that if you think your baby might be moving less you can do a kick count at any time, and that any concern about the movement pattern should be assessed as soon as possible. It names no source for the number 6.
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- Whitworth M, Fisher M, Heazell A, Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. Reduced Fetal Movements, Green-top Guideline No. 57, second edition. BJOG 2026;133(8):e70-e92, first published 27 April 2026 (section 7)
The RCOG's 2026 guideline says there is insufficient evidence to recommend formal counting of fetal movements using specified numbers, and that women should know their baby's own pattern.
Limits: Graded A for counting and C for the pattern. It notes that the most widely used alarm limit was developed in women at high risk counting in hospital, so may not apply to a general population. The same section says women who experience reduced movements should be seen by their maternity service. The 2011 edition's step for women who were unsure (lie on the left side, focus for 2 hours, and call if fewer than 10 discrete movements) does not appear in the 2026 text.
Checked . Read directly from the source.
- Whitworth M, Fisher M, Heazell A, Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. Reduced Fetal Movements, Green-top Guideline No. 57, second edition. BJOG 2026;133(8):e70-e92, first published 27 April 2026 (section 7, table 2)
The RCOG's 2026 guideline reviews seven studies of counting or awareness methods and finds insufficient evidence that formal counting lowers perinatal deaths.
Limits: The methods it describes: count-to-ten charts with attendance if fewer than 10 movements in 12 hours (Grant 1989); focusing for 2 hours three times a week and attending if fewer than 3 (Neldam 1983, a mostly high-risk group); 10 movements with attendance if not felt in 2 hours (Moore and Piacquadio 1989); count-to-ten charts in New Zealand (Westgate and Jamieson 1986); count-to-ten from 28 weeks (Saastad 2011); an information package (Tveit 2009); and Mindfetalness (Akselsson 2020).
Checked . Read directly from the source.
- Whitworth M, Fisher M, Heazell A, Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. Reduced Fetal Movements, Green-top Guideline No. 57, second edition. BJOG 2026;133(8):e70-e92, first published 27 April 2026 (section 5)
The RCOG's 2026 guideline says the mean time to feel 10 movements ranged from 10 minutes with focused counting to 162 minutes without focusing, across the studies it cites.
Limits: It gives these figures to show how attention changes what women notice, not as a limit. It also says women with a raised body mass index took longer to feel 10 movements in some studies.
Checked . Read directly from the source.
- NHS, Your baby's movements, page last reviewed 8 July 2024
The NHS says there is no set number of movements you should feel each day, that you do not need to count your baby's kicks, and that you should get to know your baby's usual pattern.
Limits: NHS advice is written for the UK. Advice elsewhere differs, and your own midwife or doctor comes first.
Checked . Read directly from the source.
- NHS, Your baby's movements, page last reviewed 8 July 2024
The NHS says to call your midwife or maternity unit immediately if your baby moves less than usual, you cannot feel movement, or the usual pattern changes, and not to wait until the next day.
Limits: NHS advice is written for the UK. Advice elsewhere differs, and your own midwife or doctor comes first.
Checked . Read directly from the source.
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