Quickening refers to?

• A. The act of terminating a pregnancy
• B. When the mother first detects fetal movement
• C. The fetus reaching viability
• D. The mother dieting during pregnancy

Answer: (B)

Quickening is the moment the mother first perceives fetal movement. It’s a subjective sensation of the fetus moving inside the uterus and has historically been used to date pregnancy, often occurring around 18–20 weeks in a first pregnancy (earlier in subsequent pregnancies). This is about maternal perception of life in the womb, not about medical milestones like viability (the fetus’s ability to survive outside the womb), nor about terminating a pregnancy, nor about dieting during pregnancy. So the best answer is the moment the mother first detects fetal movement.