Unborn Babies Respond to Mother's Touch (2024)

FAQs

Unborn Babies Respond to Mother's Touch? ›

One of the first senses to develop, research has shown that even by 8 weeks gestation (that is, 8 weeks after conception) a fetus is able to respond to the sensation of touch in utero. Babies use their own touch and the touch of others to help soothe themselves as they enter new environments.

"Overall results suggest that maternal touch of the abdomen was a powerful stimulus, producing a range of fetal behavioural responses," the researchers write. Scientists have studied how unborn babies respond to their mothers' voice, but whether, how and when they're affected by touch was much more of a mystery.

Between week 13 and week 16 of pregnancy, your baby's hearing will develop. They will start to hear your heartbeat and your stomach rumbling. Between week 25 and week 28 of pregnancy, your baby may react to noises both inside and outside your womb. They may be soothed by the sound of your voice.

The fetus responds to your voice and other sounds in the room, reacts to light and dark shadows as you move from place to place, tumbles as you switch positions, even tastes sweet or spicy foods you've just eaten.

Gently massaging your partner's belly can relieve discomfort and itchiness caused by the growing baby bump. And the bonus? Baby may start to know when their father is touching mom's belly. Babies can sense touch from anyone, but they can also sense when touch (and voice) is familiar.

4 months into your pregnancy, your baby will also feel it when you stroke the skin of your tummy: rub your hand against your stomach, gently push and stroke it… and soon your baby will start responding with little kicks, or by curling up into your palm!

Over the next few months, touch receptors start to form all over, including his genitals, palms and the soles of his feet by week 12 and the abdomen by week 17. By week 32, every part of a fetus has gained a sense of touch that's sensitive enough to feel a single hair brushing across the body.

While the women performed the behaviors, the researchers used sonography to track the response of their fetus. They found that when mothers rubbed their bellies, fetuses had more arm, head, and mouth movements than when the women did nothing or when they spoke to the baby.

Sing – Your baby loves the sound of your voice, as it soothes them. It is the primary vibration they know. Sing nursery rhymes, your favorite songs, the alphabet, or make-up songs on your own. Either way, they'll enjoy it and may recognize the songs once they're born.

According to Carista Luminare-Rosen, PhD, author of Parenting Begins Before Conception: A Guide to Preparing Body, Mind, and Spirit for You and Your Future Child, research shows that babies in the womb have the emotional and intuitive capabilities to sense their parents' love.

Can a baby in the womb feel a mother crying? ›

Research has shown that, during pregnancy, your baby feels what you feel—and with the same intensity. That means if you're crying, your baby feels the same emotion, as if it's their own. During the gestational period, your baby is preparing themselves for life in the outside world.

The results? The babies moved their arms, heads and mouths more when their mothers touched their bellies than when their moms spoke to them. They also responded to maternal touch earlier in gestation than was previously known, between weeks 21 and 25 of pregnancy.

Most babies are especially active in the evening, though some prefer moving around early in the morning. There can be great variations among healthy babies as to how often and how hard they "kick." Kicking includes all types of movements. Research shows girls kick as often as boys.

The bottom line

The vast majority of contact your belly has with the outside world every day won't hurt your baby — they're very well protected in there! The risk increases a little during the third trimester, when baby is bigger and the risk of placental abruption is higher.

However, we recommend avoiding all massages during your first trimester of pregnancy, just to be on the safe side as massaging your bump in your first trimester can make morning sickness worse. But, from around 3 months pregnant, it is perfectly safe for you to perform a gentle stomach massage during pregnancy!

Many in the medical community believe there's clear evidence that a fetus – a developing baby in the womb – can't feel physical pain until after the 24th week (6th month) of pregnancy. But other scientists say it's possible for a fetus to feel pain as early as 12 weeks (3 months) into its development.

The fetus is clearly able to respond to various external stimuli.

The fetal startle reflex was studied in an attempt to provide an objective and quantitative estimate of the fetal neurological condition. This reflex is a normal response to a combined sound-vibratory stimulus in the healthy infant born after 30 weeks of gestation.

Of course, just because it won't hurt baby, doesn't mean she can't feel you poking — in fact, baby will probably feel you move and poke before you can start to feel her, which is usually at around 18 to 20 weeks. And when baby's big enough, she might even poke back!

Even whilst they are in the womb, a baby can begin to build a bond with the people who love them. From about 16 weeks babies can hear their mum's voice, and by about 20 weeks they start to get to know other familiar voices too.