Posts Tagged ‘30 Weeks’

A Baby Shower, Moroccan style

Posted on November 15, 2009 - by Bradley Hebdon

Thanks to Jericoh, Marianne and Dawn for throwing the most amazing baby shower. It was hosted in Jericho’s Moroccan beautiful home, on the Naples canals.

 

 

 

Memories from within the womb

Posted on August 5, 2009 - by Bradley Hebdon

During pregnancy, parents often attempt to communicate with the baby as it develops within the womb. They might play Mozart  to raise their baby’s IQ;  or talk to the baby in the hope that he might recognize their voices once born; or dad might poke mom’s belly in hope of a reciprical baby kick and also shine a flashlight to brighten their dark little cave.

 
While this might sound like fun and games, there’s a lot of research being done that has uncovered remarkable evidence of how babies respond to outside stimulation.

Audio Stimulation

The baby can in fact hear from within the womb and many studies now confirm that voices can be heard. A mother’s voice is particularly powerful because it is transmitted to the womb through her own body reaching the baby in a more audible form than the outside sounds.

Music is another source of stimulation and in one study, “Brahm’s Lullabye” was played throughout the day in a premature baby nursery. It was documented that the music produced faster weight gain than the effect of voice sounds. The baby’s heart rate can also be altered by sounds. In fact, only a 5 second stimulus of sound can change the heart rate and cause the baby to move around for up to an hour.

Visual Stimulation

Despite the baby’s eyelids remaining closed until the 26th week, they are sensitive to projections of light on the belly and respond with an accelerated heart rate.  It has also been observed that they can detect the location of needles entering the womb, even with their eyelids still fused. Despite their closed eyes, it’s assumed that they have some aspect of vision, but it’s not understood how. Babies have been observed either shrinking away from the needle, or attacking it with a fist. And when twins are in the womb together, they will often locate each other, touch faces and hold hands.

Dreaming

As early as 23 weeks, babies are starting to dream with rapid eye movement and they display facial expressions that can range from pleasant to unpleasant depending on the dream.  It’s also important to note that dreams are neither reactive or evoked which means that the baby has inner mental or emotional experiences. 

Other Stimulation

Believe it or not, ultrasounds have recorded erections as early as 16 weeks, which are often partnered with finger sucking. This suggests that pleasurable self-stimulation is already possible.  And in the third trimester, when the parents are engaged in intercourse, the baby’s heart rate fluctuates wildly and is directly associated with paternal and maternal orgasms!

Remembering Experiences

Now, it’s doubtful you remember anything from your days within the womb. But a new study suggests that a short-term memory could be present for fetuses at 30 weeks of age. This study tested how fetuses in nearly 100 pregnant women responded to a very low vibrating sound. The researchers then observed the reactions using an ultrasound. The fetus was startled when it first heard/felt the sound, but after repeating this stimulation it got used to the sound, and no longer reacted to it.

This lessened response to a repeated stimulus is called habituation, a process that both humans and animals are known to experience. For example, you might become habituated to the sound of your grandfather clock ticking. Hearing it at first, but growing used to the noise after a while and falling asleep. Habituation is a form of learning and memory.

The researchers also discovered that if they played the sound to the same fetus 4 weeks later, it stopped reacting to the sounds after only a few attempts. Whereas the fetus that had not been exposed to the stimulation 4 weeks earlier, took much longer to ignore it. This test illustrated that a 30 day short-term memory was in place.

It still hasn’t been proven that the baby can remember all the stimulation it receives, but it should make you think twice about the environment outside the womb, and how it can effect the baby within.