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Intelligent Life in the Womb Psychology Today Weighs In On Our Side Psychology Today magazine's October Issue, has an interesting article by Janet L. Hopson on fetal development. The article focuses on research by Janet DiPietro, a psychologist of Johns Hopkins University. It also looks at studies from Colombia University; the Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia, and Harvard Medical School. "Armed with highly sensitive and sophisticated monitoring gear, DiPietro and other researchers today are discovering that the real action starts weeks earlier [than previously thought]." The conclusion: "Behaviorally speaking, there's little difference between a newborn baby and a 32-week-old fetus" (44). New Signs of Intelligent Life in the Womb: Just like adults, the baby has REM (Rapid Eye Movement) or dream sleep The baby can taste it's mothers meals & picks up cultural food tastes The baby can distinguish between the voice of mom and another person The baby is disturbed when the mom speaks in foreign (to her) languages! Awake or asleep, the baby moves 50 times (or more) each hour! The baby is calmed by hearing familiar stories rather than new ones The baby has the capacity to learn and remember "The roots of human behavior, researchers now know, begin to develop early -- just weeks after conception, in fact. Well before a woman typically finds out she is pregnant, her embryo's brain has already begun to bulge" (46). Developmental Stages: By 5 weeks, the baby has a cerebral cortex (the base of the brain) By 9 weeks, it can bend, hiccup, and react to loud sounds At 10 weeks, the baby can move its arms, open its jaw, stretch and "breathes" amniotic fluid in and out Before the 3rd month is over, it yawns, sucks, swallows, feels and smells By 3 1/2 months, the baby's taste buds look like an adults By 6 months, the baby can hear At 8 months, the baby sleep 90-95% of the day Toward the end of the pregnancy, the baby can see Some babies in the study even: Licked the uterine wall! Walked all around the womb by pushing off with their feet! And (surprise, surprise) babies who are very active in the womb tend to be more irritable infants! This research may effect the environment preemies are put in at hospitals, predict potential sudden infant death syndrome, and change the way pregnant women and their doctors care for their babies in the womb. Be a TLC Lifeguard Before You Leave... We hope you enjoy our web site and find it useful as a resource center. Please take a moment to rate our site. Will you help? Will you help us continue to make this resource available to thousands of monthly visitors from around the world? Yes Texans for Life Coalition P.O. Box 177727 Irving, TX 75017-7727 (972) 790-9044 webservant@texlife.org