Phantom pregnancy: feeling your baby move when you are no longer pregnant

A study published in late 2019 looked at the phantom kicking sensations that mothers experience months or even years after the birth of their child. Is it normal to feel your baby move when you're no longer pregnant?

The study, conducted by Disha Sasan and six fellow researchers from Monash University in Australia, was published in November 2019. It was the first time this phenomenon had been reported in the scientific literature.

Also read: What is a false pregnancy?

The study found that 40 percent of the 197 women surveyed had experienced some form of “baby kicks” or movements, on average up to 6.8 years after giving birth. One woman said she had even felt these phantom kicks clearly up to 28 years after her pregnancy.

25% of women found the phantom kicks pleasant and positive, while 27% said they felt confused and distressed by them. “Our results indicate that phantom kicking is a commonly experienced sensation in the postpartum period, which may impact a woman’s mental health after giving birth. The mechanism of phantom kicking is unknown, but it may be linked to changes in the somatosensory homunculus (brain areas related to body sensation) or proprioception (perception of the position of different body parts) during pregnancy.”

Also read: What are the early symptoms of pregnancy?

Susan Ayers of City University in London commented on the research and put the 40% figure into perspective. According to her, it is impossible to get a general picture of the percentage of women who are “affected” by this syndrome. In fact, it is more likely that those involved volunteered to take part in the research.

What's causing these phantom kicks?

1. The first has to do with how the brain perceives the body (proprioception). It is basically like your brain gets used to your baby's movements, imprints them and then expresses them again. A bit like the famous phantom limb syndrome.
2. The second hypothesis concerns women after childbirth (a few weeks/months after pregnancy): young mothers confuse the contractions of the uterus, which is still working to “return to its original shape” for weeks after birth.
3. The third hypothesis: before pregnancy, women are not very sensitive to movements and sensations. After pregnancy, they are simply more sensitive to these more recognizable sensations than before. In short, it is as if they have become aware of their womb.

4. Finally, we can also ask ourselves whether what we consider uterine movements are not simply contractions and movements of the intestines or other parts of the digestive tract to which we are more sensitive. Could it be that these organs, like the uterus, are marked by the movements of the baby, when he took up all the space and used the organs as a punching bag?

Also read: Testimony: “I miss my pregnant belly”

Sources::
https://osf.io
https://www.researchgate.net
https://www.newscientist.com
https://www.cerveauetpsycho.fr