Why do baby kick in womb
Here's Why Babies Kick in the Womb
By The Healthline Editorial Team on December 9, 2018
Kicking in utero may be related to brain development.
Share on PinterestResearchers are learning why a developing fetus will kick in the uterus. Getty ImagesFeeling a baby kick is a normal part of being pregnant. A new study, however, sheds more insight into why a fetus kicks — and how it helps them develop.
A recent study in Scientific Reports found that kicking can help the fetus “map” their body and explore their surroundings.
The researchers examined the sleep patterns of 19 newborns between 31 and 42 weeks. The infants in the study were already born, but some were born prematurely.
They noted the infants “corrected gestational age,” which is the accurate age of a baby from conception regardless of when they are born. For instance, an infant who was 1-week old but born at 35 weeks would be 36 weeks old. Infants are considered full term anywhere from 37 to 42 weeks.
Researchers looked at the brainwaves that fetuses produce when they kick during rapid eye movement (REM) sleep.
When the fetus moves its right hand, for example, it produces brainwaves immediately afterwards in the part of the left-brain hemisphere that processes touch for the right hand.
The brainwaves are extremely fast in premature babies. (In the case of this study, they noted that premature babies who were already born would typically still be in the womb when these fast brainwaves occur.)
By the time the babies are a few weeks old, the fast brainwaves naturally disappear.
Fetal kicks in the third trimester help the infant develop brain areas linked to sensory input. They are also tied to helping the baby form a sense of their own body, the scientists say.
“Spontaneous movement and consequent feedback from the environment during the early developmental period are known to be necessary for proper brain mapping in animals, such as rats. Here we showed that this may be true in humans too,” Lorenzo Fabrizi, PhD, the lead researcher said in a statement.
“For example, it is already routine for infants to be ‘nested’ in their cots. This allows them to ‘feel’ a surface when their limbs kick, as if they were still inside the womb,” she said. The study supports the notion that sleep should be protected and interruptions minimized, as the findings show how important movement is during fetal and premature newborn sleep.
Kimberley Whitehead, a research associate in the Division of Biosciences, University College London said the findings could help hospitals provide an optimal environment for infants born prematurely.
Whitehead told Healthline that animal experiments have demonstrated that spontaneous movement and feedback from the environment during the early developmental period are necessary for proper brain mapping. They think it is similar in humans, although that has not been proven yet, she said.
The team’s finding about infant brain activity changes with movement could impact future studies.
“We were surprised that although the movement-evoked fast brainwaves disappear a few weeks after the average time of birth, movement continues to trigger slow brainwaves,” she said.
This draws on her team’s previous research earlier this year that showed different types of brainwaves can perform different functions. That research showed that a big change happens at full-term age because different types of sleep start to be associated with particular brainwave patterns.
Whitehead said they plan to continue studying movement in babies, but they are also focused on how aspects of brain development are processed, such as touch and painful stimuli (as with a blood test, for example).
“I think this research is intriguing,” Dr. Scott Sullivan, a professor and director of maternal-fetal medicine at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston. Not only does it define critical brain development that occurs in late gestation, but it also shows that active sleep movements contribute strongly to cortical mapping. The research also reinforces the importance of sleep for newborns and suggests that preterm babies, even those near to term, might have these cycles interrupted or delayed.
“More research is needed [to determine] how nursery care may need to be changed to not interrupt these important developmental steps,” Sullivan said.
The medical community already knows a good deal about the quality, frequency, and perceptibility of fetal movements, said Dr. Amber Samuel, medical director, maternal-fetal medicine at the Obstetrix Medical Group of Houston. Sporadic movements at about 9 or 10 weeks become more organized in the second trimester. Mothers can feel a fetus kick as early as 15 weeks.
As the brain develops, the fetus kicks and responds to their own brain activity, as well as to changes in maternal movement, sound, temperature, and other stimuli.
“The perception of fetal movement changes in the third trimester to body rolling more often than distinctive kicks but all fetal movement is reassuring even if the quality evolves,” Samuel said.
Fetal kicking serves several purposes, added Sullivan. The first is that it gives muscles and limbs exercise.
It also shows response to stimuli and, as the current study suggests, helps the brain make connections for spatial sense.
Doctors still aren’t sure what the changes in frequency of movement means. Many fetuses have longer than usual periods of inactivity. In some cases of stillborn infants or in utero death, they can come as a result of decreased movement. Still, the medical community is not sure based on those perceptions which babies may be more at risk than others, Samuel said.
One commonly used “kick count” system suggests that mothers should feel 10 movements every 2 hours.
“No type of system has been more useful than others for predicting if there may be a problem developing. Additionally, most research does not support that kick counts can prevent stillbirth,” she said.
“All healthy babies move but some moms of healthy babies may not feel it as much as others,” she added.
That’s why Samuel generally tells patients they should be aware of what is normal for their baby including type and frequency of movement and the typical time of day.
“Many women will not feel distinct movements in the course of a busy afternoon, so I recommend monitoring your baby during a time when you have known he or she to be active and when there are other [no] distractions, like in the evening,” she said. “If movement becomes markedly less or absent, patients should inform their healthcare provider for further steps.”
A recent study in Scientific Reports found that kicking can help the fetus “map” their body and explore their surroundings.
Researchers found that fetal kicks in the third trimester may help the infant develop brain areas linked to sensory input. They are also tied to helping the baby form a sense of their own body, the scientists say.
Why Do Babies Kick in the Womb?
Above, an animation made from MRI scans showing fetal kicks at various stages of development. (Image credit: Stefaan W. Verbruggen, et al./Journal of the Royal Society)The first time a pregnant woman feels her baby kick can be surprising — a sudden reminder that the tiny creature growing inside her has a mind of its own.
But why do babies kick?
Though the womb is a tight space in which to exercise, it turns out that those kicks are vital for the baby's healthy bone and joint development, an expert told Live Science.
Fetuses begin moving in the womb about as early as 7 weeks, when they slowly bend their necks, according to a review paper published in the journal Ultrasound in Obstetrics & Gynecology. As the babies grow, they gradually add more movements to their repertoire, such as hiccupping, arm and leg movements, stretching, yawning, and thumb sucking. But the mom won't feel the bigger movements — such as kicks and punches — until 16 to 18 weeks into her pregnancy, when the baby is a bit stronger. [In Photos: How Babies Learn]
Babies need their exercise, too
An entire field of research is dedicated to figuring out whether the baby is in control of its movement or if those movements are just a reflex, said Niamh Nowlan, a bioengineer at Imperial College London. "Early movements are likely to be purely reflex," Nowlan told Live Science in an email, but as the movements become more coordinated, "it's likely the brain is in control of how much and when the baby moves.
" (Reflexes, on the other hand, come from the spinal cord and don't require input from the brain.)
Scientists may not know for sure if the movements are voluntary or involuntary, but Nowlan said the research is clear that movement is important. "The baby needs to move [in the womb] to be healthy after birth, particularly for their bones and joints," she said. In a review she published in the journal European Cells and Materials, Nowlan described how a lack of fetal movement can lead to a variety of congenital disorders, such as shortened joints and thin bones that are susceptible to fracture.
For pregnant women wondering if their baby is too kicky, or not kicky enough, Nowlan said there's no established amount of normal fetal movement during pregnancy. "Pregnant women are told to look out for significant changes in movements, which is quite vague advice, but it's the best that can be given at the moment," she said.
That's because it's difficult for scientists to study fetal movements, because the only way to measure them is in the hospital and it can be done for only a short period at a time.
To get around this problem, Nowlan and her colleagues are working on developing a fetal-movement monitor that the mother can wear during her normal daily activities. The researchers tested the monitor on 44 women who were 24 to 34 weeks pregnant and could accurately detect breathing, startle movements and other general body movements. Their results were published in the journal PLOS One in May.
One study, published in 2001 in the journal Human Fetal and Neonatal Movement Patterns, found that boys may move around more in the womb than girls. The average number of leg movements was much higher in the boys compared to the girls at 20, 34 and 37 weeks, that study found. But the study's sample size was small, only 37 babies, so Nowlan and her colleagues are hesitant to claim there's a relationship between gender and fetal movement.
Fetal kicks can pack a punch
It's unlikely that each woman will feel the same thing when her baby starts kicking.
"Different women experience the sensation quite differently, and sensations can vary between pregnancies," Nowlan said.
In her own two pregnancies, for example, she said she was much more sensitive to the movements of her second child compared to those of her first. "I could always tell where my son's feet were, whereas that wasn't really the case for my first," she said. She hypothesized that this variation could have arisen because the womb muscles are more stretched out after the first pregnancy, a topic she's now studying.
The most-pronounced movements mothers will feel are the baby's kicks. A recent study from Nowlan and her colleagues, published in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface in January, found that the impact of the baby's kick increases from 6 lbs. (2 kilograms) of force at 20 weeks to 10 lbs. (4 kg) of force at 30 weeks. After that point, the baby's kick force decreases to just under 4 lbs. (2 kg). The scientists said they suspect the decrease in movement occurs because there is less room for the baby to move around.
But babies in the womb are doing more than just kicking.
By 15 weeks, the baby is also punching, opening and closing its mouth, moving its head, and sucking its thumb. A few weeks later, the baby will open and close its eyes. But the mother will feel only the major movements: kicking, punching and maybe big hiccups.
The babies also do "breathing movements,'" said Nowlan. While the baby isn't actually breathing air, it will perform the same movement, just with amniotic fluid. Nowlan explained that babies who don't perform this movement often have trouble breathing once they're born, because they haven't built up their chest muscles.
Feeling a baby moving and kicking in the womb might be a weird sensation, but it's simply a sign of healthy development.
Original article on Live Science.
Kimberly has a bachelor's degree in marine biology from Texas A&M University, a master's degree in biology from Southeastern Louisiana University and a graduate certificate in science communication from the University of California, Santa Cruz.
She is a former reference editor for Live Science and Space.com. Her work has appeared in Inside Science, News from Science, the San Jose Mercury and others. Her favorite stories include those about animals and obscurities. A Texas native, Kim now lives in a California redwood forest.
Scientists have found out why children move in the womb
https://ria.ru/20181130/1534993446.html , 11/30/2018
Scientists have found out why babies move in the womb
Unborn babies periodically move and "kick" the mother's stomach not randomly, but in order to understand where the boundary between their body and... RIA Novosti, November 30, 2018
2018-11-30t14: 02
2018-11-30t14: 02
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MOSCOW, Nov 30 – RIA News. Unborn babies periodically move and “kick” the mother’s stomach, not randomly, but in order to understand where the border between their body and the rest of the world is. This is the conclusion of scientists who published an article in the journal Scientific Reports. All mothers on Earth are well aware that at a certain stage in the development of the fetus, the unborn child begins to show signs of activity, moving inside their womb. Sometimes he kicks or elbows in stomach women, that she feels good. All expectant mothers look forward to this moment, and many of them often believe that in this way the child "communicates" with the mother and reacts to events in her life. Scientists do not yet know why the baby begins to move in the womb at about the sixth month of development, and which parts of the nervous system are responsible for such reactions. the work of the brain and the movement of the limbs of two dozen premature babies born at 30-40 weeks of gestation. Such babies, as scientists note, were born even before their intrauterine development was completely completed. Such a combination of circumstances is very dangerous for the health of the baby itself, but extremely interesting for scientists studying the last stages of pregnancy. the same movements as unborn babies in the womb. It turned out that every "kick" and all other movements were accompanied by bursts of activity in those regions of the brain that control the limbs and responsible for the work of a kind of "mental map" ". It helps us to understand where our arms and legs are and where the boundary between the outside world and body passes. Apparently, the brain of the future baby gradually fills in and "tunes" this map, making movements of the legs and hands and analyzing What tactile sensations arose during such pokes with elbows and kicks in the mother's stomach. related to wakefulness and "conscious" brain activity. The older the child was, the weaker these bursts were, which signaled the completion of the “setting up” of the movement map.
If this is true, then premature babies should not simply be placed in special “incubators” isolated from the surrounding world, but and wrap in & nbsp; original rag "nests". They, as Fabrizi and his colleagues conclude, will mimic the walls of the uterus and help babies learn to control their bodies. nine0003
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discoveries - ria science, uk
Discoveries - RIA Nauka, Science, Great Britain
MOSCOW, November 30 - RIA Novosti . Not yet born children periodically move and "kick" the mother's stomach, not randomly, but in order to understand where the border between their body and the rest of the world is. This conclusion was reached by scientists who published an article in the journal Scientific Reports.
November 17, 2017, 10:00
Premature babies: what you need to know and what not to believe
All mothers on Earth are well aware that at a certain stage of fetal development, the unborn baby begins to show signs of activity, moving inside their womb. Sometimes he kicks or kicks the woman in the stomach, which she feels well. nine0003
All future mothers look forward to this moment, and many of them often believe that in this way the child "communicates" with the mother and reacts to events in her life. Scientists do not yet know why the baby begins to move in the womb at about the sixth month of development, and which parts of the nervous system are responsible for such reactions.
Fabrizi and his colleagues took the first step towards unraveling this mystery by following the brain and limb movements of two dozen premature babies born at 30-40 weeks of gestation. nine0003
January 29, 2014, 02:09 Science
Premature babies more likely to experience breathing problems, scientists say Scientists analyzed data from 30 studies on breathing problems, covering 1.5 million babies in total.
Such babies, as noted by scientists, were born even before their intrauterine development was fully completed.
Such a combination of circumstances is very dangerous for the health of the child itself, but extremely interesting for scientists studying the last stages of pregnancy. nine0003
Using a similar opportunity, the authors of the article followed the shifts in brain activity in these babies during sleep, when they make the same movements as unborn children in the womb.
It turned out that every "kick" and all other movements were accompanied by bursts of activity in those regions of the brain that control the limbs and are responsible for the work of a kind of "mental map". It helps us understand where our hands and feet are and where the boundary between the outside world and the body lies. nine0003
Apparently, the brain of the unborn baby is gradually filling in and "tuning" this map, making movements with the legs and arms and analyzing what tactile sensations arose during such elbow pokes and kicks in the mother's stomach.
April 25, 2017, 18:07 Science
Biologists have created the first prototype of the "artificial womb" and "conscious" brain activity.
The older the child was, the weaker these bursts were, which signaled the completion of the "tuning" of the movement map. nine0003
If this is true, then premature babies should not only be placed in special "incubators" isolated from the outside world, but also wrapped in a kind of rag "nests". They, Fabrizi and his colleagues conclude, will mimic the walls of the uterus and help babies learn to control their bodies.
Why babies kick in the womb | Health
Every pregnant woman looks forward to feeling the first movement of her baby in her belly. After all, this is a real opportunity to communicate with the child, even before his birth. Therefore, expectant mothers always listen carefully to themselves, what do all these bumps and pushes mean? nine0003
When the fetus starts to move
Even at the initial stages of medical examination, local gynecologists tell future mothers that the baby makes its very first movements quite early - at 7-8 weeks of pregnancy.
It is during this period that the muscles and rudiments of the nervous system are formed in the fetus. However, he is still so small that his blows are disproportionately weak, so the woman cannot feel them. From about the 10th week of growth, the baby begins to move more actively in the uterus, but even then the expectant mother does not notice this. However, if a woman’s pregnancy is not the first, then at the 16th week, and the primiparous lady, at the 18-20th week of pregnancy, may notice for the first time that “as if a fish swam” inside her. nine0003
The earliest perceptible fetal movements are soft and tickling, sometimes compared to the fluttering of a large butterfly in the stomach. A sharper motor activity of the baby inside the womb increases gradually, and its peak falls on the period from 24 to 32 weeks of pregnancy. These days, the child is able to kick some very painfully, especially if his blows fall, for example, in the area of \u200b\u200bthe mother's liver or a loaded area of the intestines.
In the prenatal weeks, the active movements of the fetus almost stop. Nature tells the baby that he needs to prepare for the birth. nine0003
Why do babies kick in the womb
From the moment the fetus moves in the womb, the expectant mother begins to understand that he is not just kicking, but a kind of “communicating” with her with the help of movements. Very often, the baby throws up a pen or leg, reacting to the sounds of her voice and emotional state. For example, if a woman is excited, worried about something, or overjoyed, the child can also move more actively or, conversely, calm down for a while, as if frightened by something. Many pregnant ladies say that after a hearty lunch or dinner, they can’t just lie down, because the baby, kicking, as if urging the mother to go for a walk, go for a walk. nine0003
Experts from the Moscow Regional Research Institute of Obstetrics and Gynecology say that all these elements of communication between mother and unborn child do take place and they are absolutely normal for a healthy pregnancy.
But if the active movements of the fetus were for some time, and then they stopped and the child does not manifest itself for a long time, then this is a reason to worry and contact the local gynecologist. The baby must move and kick in the womb, so he often tries to make it clear that his mother is sitting incorrectly or lying on the wrong side, so he is uncomfortable inside. With his movements, he forces her to change position in order to achieve a comfortable state in the womb. nine0003
That is why doctors have often encountered such a situation when a worried, and sometimes seriously frightened woman, already at the 30th week of pregnancy, comes to her gynecologist and declares that the baby inside her has never moved. But the presence of a heartbeat and other studies usually show that the fetus is absolutely healthy and is just fine with everything, so it does not manifest itself in any way. Such cases are by no means rare and also absolutely normal. But it also happens that by the way a child moves inside a woman, doctors may suspect something was wrong.
