Contents
The development of his senses
At the dawn of the senses, the fetus first perceives only fleeting sensations. But his brain, which is being built at the speed of 5 neurons per second, will lead him to develop his 000 senses in… 5 months.
At the end of the 2nd month, he reacts to touch
Sense of touch appears after a few weeks by the pressure of the amniotic fluid on his skin.
The receptors first appear around his mouth, then multiply all over his face, on the palms of his hands, on the soles of his feet and finally at the tips of his fingers.
It reacts to your caresses
Some babies even start sucking their thumbs, stroking their faces, and playing with the umbilical cord. By simply pressing your hands, you can come into contact with it.
During the 4th month
At the same time he acquires smell and taste. By the sixteenth week, the fetus continuously drinks and eliminates amniotic fluid. He is sensitive to its “perfume”, which he appreciates as well with the nose as with the mouth … He keeps that smell in his memory since it has been shown that at birth, the child recognizes the smell of the amniotic fluid in which he has bathed in utero.
By the fourth month, the taste buds of his tongue are in place. He also has twice as much as an adult. Through the amniotic fluid he drinks, he distinguishes very early on the four basic flavors: sweet, salty, bitter, sour. Researchers have observed that the fetus has a predilection for sweet: in fact, after injecting glucose into the amniotic sac, it begins to drink greedily.
Did you know? The taste of amniotic fluid varies depending on the mother’s diet.
The development of hearing and sight
In the 5th month
At about 5 months, her whole body and even her mucous membranes are able to respond to touch. As for sounds, hearing is the keenest sense of the fetus because from its conception, it is lulled by the digestive, circulatory and heart sounds of its mother’s body. Thanks to his inner ear, he first perceives high-pitched sounds. His eardrums are definitely formed at 6 months. He then takes the opportunity to hear and even… listen. At this stage, his ear is so fine that he can perceive sounds coming from outside. Researchers have even shown that he is sensitive to changes in rhythm and voice intonation that reach him. Hearing your daddy is also a great pleasure. At birth, experiments have shown that he can clearly distinguish his mother’s voice.
In the 7th month
LaWith an ambitious vision about to is the last sense to be put in place. At about seven months, her eyelids open. The fetus then only distinguishes shadows or a strong light, shining on the belly of its mother. Insofar as she is little stimulated in the dark, even at birth, her eyesight is not yet fully developed. Arriving in a brightly lit birth room should not be very pleasant for a newborn … This is why it is more and more frequent to welcome babies in a subdued universe and even for premature babies, in near darkness. Baby is therefore born with his five senses! He will only have to optimize them during his first years. Amazing, isn’t it?
What about premature babies?
One wonders how long it takes for a fetus to register its happiness software in its mother’s womb. In fact, to use a computer image: the fetus’ “hard drive” is already burned before 5 months. Everything he records afterwards is intended to add “ramifications”.
So if a woman gives birth at seven months of pregnancy, her baby will probably have fewer elements than a term infant, but the essentials will be acquired.
In case of suffering
The problem is rather in the moments that the premature baby passes in the intensive care unit, because despite the delicacy and gentleness shown by the medical staff, many premature babies suffer during care. However, this suffering can go against the happiness that the fetus had engraved in utero.
The results ?
A study published at the beginning of 2002 showed that some premature babies were a little slower to acquire knowledge … But when premature babies resume a normal life, they just need a little more time to learn and, it is normal after a so eventful start to life!