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.
Studies have shown that infants as young as one month-old sense when a parent is depressed or angry and are affected by the parent's mood. Understanding that even infants are affected by adult emotions can help parents do their best in supporting their child's healthy development.
Fetal fidgets
They also examined the babies two weeks after birth. The fetuses of women who reported higher stress levels during pregnancy moved around more in the womb.
“When we're watching the fetus on ultrasound and the mother starts to laugh, we can see the fetus, floating upside down in the womb, bounce up and down on its head, bum-bum-bum, like it's bouncing on a trampoline," said Janet DiPietro, the Vice Dean for research and faculty at John Hopkins.
Sensory and brain mechanisms for hearing are developed at 30 weeks of gestational age, and the new study shows that unborn babies are listening to their mothers talk during the last 10 weeks of pregnancy and at birth can demonstrate what they've heard.
While in your womb, your baby will hear and feel the vibrations of your voice every time you speak to anyone. They will have learnt to recognise and be comforted by your voice by the time they're born, even if you don't speak to them directly4.
Constant fears about pregnancy, loss of life, or losing the baby, as well as trauma or prolonged stress, all increase stress hormones in the amniotic fluid. This level of stress is likely to have an impact on your baby's development.
There is growing evidence that even milder forms of maternal stress or anxiety during pregnancy affect the fetus causing possible long-term consequences for infant and child development.
Fetal distress is diagnosed by monitoring the baby's heart rate. A slow heart rate, or unusual patterns in the heart rate, may signal fetal distress. Your doctor or midwife might pick up signs of fetal distress as they listen to your baby's heart during pregnancy.
They can feel pain at 22 weeks, and at 26 weeks they can move in response to a hand being rubbed on the mother's belly.
Most recently, some studies are suggesting that stress in the womb can affect a baby's temperament and neurobehavioral development. Infants whose mothers experienced high levels of stress while pregnant, particularly in the first trimester, show signs of more depression and irritability.
Just like newborns, fetuses spend most of their time sleeping. Indeed, throughout much of the pregnancy, your baby sleeps 90 to 95% of the day. Some of these hours are spent in deep sleep, some in REM sleep, and some in an indeterminate state—a result of their immature brain.
A woman experiencing five or more stressful events was nearly 2.5 times more likely to have a stillbirth than a woman who had experienced none.
Sneezing during pregnancy will typically not harm the baby. The baby is well-protected in the uterus, and even a hard sneeze will not affect the baby. The only time that sneezing may be problematic for the baby is if the sneezing is the symptom of an underlying illness or problem.
Around the 23rd week of pregnancy, the fetus will also be able to hear noises from outside of the womb. These include speech and music. As the fetus develops, all of the sounds will become louder and more distinguishable.
Yoga or Gentle Exercise – The easy motion of prenatal yoga, stretching, walking or swimming will rock baby to sleep. You could even do it at the same time every evening, and that might become a baby's bedtime.
They can have a negative effect on the baby's development. And violence can make a pregnant partner feel very anxious. Anxiety can have negative effects on the baby too, including on their mental health later in life.
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. And by 24 weeks into pregnancy, dad can usually feel baby kick – but the exact time varies.
At 15 weeks of pregnancy, you are in your second trimester and will start to notice big changes. However, according to some researchers, it isn't until about 21 weeks of pregnancy that your baby may begin to feel sensations when you rub your belly.
At around 6 or 7 months old, your baby begins to realize that they're separate from you and that you can leave them alone.
Bonding before birth
Your baby can hear you from at least 16 weeks, and perhaps earlier. Babies hear their mother's voices most clearly, but anyone can talk and sing to them – your baby will love to hear from anyone. This helps your baby: to get to know voices, which will help them feel safe and secure.
The stereotypical hormonal stress response of adults or older infants, of about 18 months onwards, reporting pain is observable in fetuses at 18 weeks' gestation. Behavioural reactions and brain haemodynamic responses to noxious stimuli, comparable to adults or older infants, occur by 26 weeks' gestation.