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Published Online: 15 January 2021

“Phantom Kicks”: Women's Subjective Experience of Fetal Kicks After the Postpartum Period

Publication: Journal of Women's Health
Volume 30, Issue Number 1

Abstract

Background: During pregnancy, a woman will attribute increased abdominal sensations to fetal movement. Surprisingly, many women report that they feel kick sensations long after the pregnancy; however, this experience has never been reported in the scientific literature.
Materials and Methods: We used a qualitative approach to survey n = 197 women who had previously been pregnant. We calculated the number of women who had experienced phantom kicks after their first pregnancy, and explored subjective experiences of kick-like sensations in the post-partum period.
Results: In this study, we show that almost 40% of women in our sample experienced phantom fetal kicks after their first pregnancy, up to 28 years (average 6.4 years) post-partum. Women described the phantom sensations as “convincing,” “real kicks,” or “flutters.” Twenty-seven percent of women described the experience as nostalgic or comforting, and 25.7% reported felt confused or upset by the experience.
Conclusions: Our results demonstrate that phantom kicks in the postpartum period are a widely experienced sensation, which may have implications for a woman's postpartum mental health. The mechanism behind the phantom kick phenomenon is unknown, but may be related to changes in the somatosensory homunculus or proprioception during pregnancy.

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Information & Authors

Information

Published In

cover image Journal of Women's Health
Journal of Women's Health
Volume 30Issue Number 1January 2021
Pages: 36 - 44
PubMed: 32846107

History

Published online: 15 January 2021
Published in print: January 2021
Published ahead of print: 25 August 2020

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Authors

Affiliations

Disha Sasan
Monash Biomedical Imaging, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health, School of Psychological Sciences, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Phillip G.D. Ward
Monash Biomedical Imaging, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health, School of Psychological Sciences, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Integrative Brain Function, Clayton, Victoria, Australia.
Meredith Nash
School of Social Sciences, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia.
Edwina R. Orchard
Monash Biomedical Imaging, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health, School of Psychological Sciences, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Integrative Brain Function, Clayton, Victoria, Australia.
Michael J. Farrell
Monash Biomedical Imaging, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Department of Medical Imaging and Radiation Sciences, Biomedicine Discovery Institute, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Jakob Hohwy
Cognition and Philosophy Lab, Department of Philosophy, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Sharna D. Jamadar [email protected]
Monash Biomedical Imaging, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health, School of Psychological Sciences, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Integrative Brain Function, Clayton, Victoria, Australia.

Notes

Address correspondence to: Sharna D. Jamadar, PhD, Monash Biomedical Imaging, Monash University, 770 Blackburn Road, Melbourne 3800, Victoria, Australia [email protected]

Authors' Contributions

S.D.J. and P.G.D.W. conceived the research question; D.S., S.D.J., P.G.D.W., M.N., and E.R.O. developed the survey; D.S. and M.N. analyzed the data; D.S. and S.D.J. wrote the first draft of the article; and all authors contributed to article preparation.

Author Disclosure Statement

No competing financial interests exist.

Funding Information

S.D.J. is supported by an Australian Research Council (ARC) Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DE150100406) and NHMRC Fellowship (APP1174164). S.D.J., P.G.D.W., and E.R.O. are supported by the ARC Centre of Excellence for Integrative Brain Function (CE1401000007). J.H. is supported by the Australian Research Council (DP190101805).

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