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Nine months locked up – now it may seem like real hell to someone. But the future baby spends this time very exciting.
He is busy with important work: he grows, forms the systems of the body, learns to hear, control his body, learns skills that will be useful to him immediately after birth, for example, sucking. The kid sleeps, eats, moves, even has fun. We have collected all the most interesting about what a child is doing in the womb.
1. Learning to listen
As strange as it sounds, the uterus is the first learning environment for a child. In utero, a little man learns to hear and distinguish sounds, voices. The baby recognizes the mother’s voice immediately after birth. And if dad sang songs and read fairy tales to him, then he too. There are studies that say children are able to distinguish between languages; the one spoken by the mother is distinguished from the others.
2. Playing
What can you play in such a confined space, and even alone? Anything. The kid can play with the umbilical cord, with its own arms and legs, fingers. Sometimes mom even feels it – like a child pulls the umbilical cord. And if he is not alone in his stomach, then there are even more creative ideas for games.
3. Hiccups
Why this happens, doctors still do not know. But it’s a fact: children hiccup, and sometimes so intensely that mom feels it too. Sometimes intrauterine hiccups can be an alarming symptom, in which case you need to see a doctor.
4. Breathes
How do babies breathe in their mother’s belly? Of course, through the umbilical cord – it supplies them with oxygen. But at the same time, the baby trains his still immature respiratory system: he imitates inhalation and exhalation by drawing amniotic fluid into his nose. Therefore, after birth, liquid may come out of the baby’s nose.
5. Sniffs
A baby’s sense of smell develops long before birth. Scientists say that he is able to distinguish the taste of the food that mom eats. If she loves onions, then the baby will love him with a high degree of probability. The baby may even smell smoke if someone smokes next to the pregnant woman. Therefore, it is worth staying away from people with bad habits.
6. Yawns
This was captured on an ultrasound scan – yes, the baby not only sleeps and is awake, but also yawns, just like a big man. And it does not mean at all that at this time the child wants to sleep. Scientists tend to believe that yawning is associated with the development of the infant’s nervous system. The closer the due date, the less the baby yawns.
7. Builds faces
The development of facial muscles is a delicate matter. By the third trimester, the baby will have mastered 19 facial movements. There is only one way to learn to control the muscles of the face – by trying. This is what the child is doing – making faces while no one sees him. Except for an ultrasound specialist.
8. Crying
This whimpering expression of a tiny face cannot be confused with anything – yes, the baby is crying, albeit without tears. In addition, scientists have managed to catch the sounds that the baby makes at the same time. And yes, these are sobs muffled by amniotic fluid. But the researchers have not yet figured out the reasons for intrauterine crying.
9. Thumb sucking
If you can catch this moment on an ultrasound scan, it will immediately become clear whether the baby will be left-handed or right-handed. In most cases, this is laid in utero. And by sucking a finger, babies calm themselves, then the finger will replace the nipple.
10. Feels the taste
Taste buds in the baby’s tongue are formed already in the ninth week of pregnancy. So it is in vain that mothers think that for the first time he tastes food when she offers a vegetable puree to a child. Swallowing amniotic fluid, the baby tries what his mother eats. It is then that his favorite dishes appear.
11. Dreams
It would seem, well, what can a child dream about when he has not seen anything yet – literally. He’s not even born yet! However, studies say that babies still dream: they go through a phase of REM sleep, as evidenced by the movement of their eyes. But what these dreams are about is unknown.
12. Dancing
As the expectant baby learns to control his movements, he learns to move to the rhythm of the music. Yes, of course, he hears her. A child’s musical taste is formed on the basis of which songs he hears most often while in the womb. Babies are naturally musical by nature.
13. Responds to stroking
If you pat on the belly, your baby will knock back. Not every time this will happen, but still. Haptonomy is based on this ability of the child – a method of teaching mathematics even before birth: to knock on the stomach several times, and then count how many times the baby will do the same, but from the inside.
14. Feel yourself
This is the only way for a baby to become aware of his body. So he finds out that he has arms, legs, he touches his face and in general everything that he can reach. It is necessary to study oneself.
15. Feels stress
First of all, the one that mom feels. Scientists have even found a pattern: the more often a child touches his face with his left hand, the stronger the stress that both mom and baby are going through. But this can affect the growth and development of the child, even his tendency to depression in adulthood.