Feeding instinct starts in the womb

Saturday

Oct 19, 2013 at 12:01 AMOct 20, 2013 at 8:16 AM

Hungry babies instinctively open their mouths as their mother's breast or a bottle draws near. Now, researchers from England and France report that this instinct is a skill that fetuses teach themselves in the womb.

Hungry babies instinctively open their mouths as their motherís breast or a bottle draws near. Now, researchers from England and France report that this instinct is a skill that fetuses teach themselves in the womb.

Studying scans at monthly intervals between 24 and 36 weeks of pregnancy, the scientists found that the youngest fetuses were more likely to touch their heads and that as they matured, they began to touch their mouths more.

And by 36 weeks, the fetuses began to open their mouths before they touched them.

The anticipation of touch is a skill a baby uses during feeding, said Nadja Reissland, a psychologist at Durham University in England, who reports the findings along with colleagues in the journal Developmental Psychobiology.

ďWe canít say itís a precursor to feeding, but itís one element of feeding,Ē she said.