From the second trimester of pregnancy, around 18 weeks (it may be earlier if it is not the first pregnancy), the movements of the baby within the womb begin to be felt. We can also feel when she has hiccups and towards the end of the pregnancy the kicks are felt more and more vigorous.
But, a curiosity that we ask ourselves is, can babies cry in the womb? As explained in the scientific publication Live Science , babies seem to start crying before taking their first breath.
Facial expressions that would indicate crying
Ultrasound technologies have allowed us to look inside the uterus and observe fetuses while they are still developing. For example, a video published in the Archives of Disease in Childhood – Fetal and Neonatal Edition in 2005 shows a 33-week-old fetus making facial expressions that appear to be crying .
After causing a vibration and noise stimulation, they could notice that the baby opens his jaw widely, tucks his chin in and lets out three large exhales in a row as his chest rises and his head tilts back, ending with a trembling in the chin. This movement was seen in 10 fetuses (about six percent of the total number of babies scanned).
Do they really cry?
Experts clarify that we must first define what we understand by crying.
“If the definition of ‘a loud, inarticulate cry or a cry that expresses a powerful feeling or emotion’ is used, then we can safely say that babies do not cry in the womb,” Nadja Reissland, developmental psychologist Durham University in the UK.
In other words, in the fluid-filled amniotic sac, fetuses cannot take a deep breath, fill their lungs, and vibrate air through their vocal cords to begin screaming. That only happens when they are abroad.
Reissland’s team has analyzed the development of facial expressions in utero by observing the movements of fetuses in the second and third trimesters through 4D ultrasound imaging.
These facial expressions, including the “gestalt cry face” and the “gestalt laugh” that Reissland and his colleagues defined in an article published in the journal PLOS One in 2011, may be precursors to facial expressions used outside the womb.
These preliminary facial expressions develop around 24 to 35 weeks and their complexity increases with gestational age.
These movements are too subtle for the pregnant mother to feel, but the fetus seems to be practicing crying facial movements before birth, preparing it to become functional when they take their first breath and release that long-awaited wail that signals their arrival.
Babies in the womb do not produce tears
It is not possible to tell if they are vibrating the vocal cords and trying to make sounds in the uterus. Even if they managed to make a sound wave through the fluid, it probably wouldn’t be strong enough to travel through the amniotic fluid and feel it out.
We also do not know if these crying movements are in any way related to pain or discomfort in the fetus. In Reissland’s studies, fetuses displayed these facial expressions without stimulation of any kind; the expressions they observed did not respond to any stimulus from the researchers.
These facial gestures can act as a kind of test for the facial muscles ; This practice in the womb can help the baby bond with others once they are born.
Tearful crying typically doesn’t start until about four weeks after birth , once babies’ tear ducts are mature enough to form tears, Live Science previously reported.
Reissland’s goal in studying these facial expressions is to help researchers develop a useful tool for identifying developmental disorders and other health problems in the womb. A fetus with a developmental or health problem may not display these facial expressions at the same time as a healthy fetus.
The development of full facial expressions is learned after birth in the social context of interaction with people. Babies don’t start smiling “socially” until around eight weeks, and those precious giggles don’t last until about four to six months, but their faces are developing these skills weeks before birth.
Via | Live Science
Photo | Depositphotos
In Babies and more | Twelve things your baby learns in the womb
