Babies develop facial expressions before birth
You may think your tantrum-throwing tot has picked up his grumpy scowl from Daddy.
But new research shows babies are practicing their happy, sad and angry faces even before birth.
The British study proves for the first time ever that recognisable facial expressions develop in the womb, with foetuses apparently smiling, able to furrow their brows, and displaying all the complex signs of a “cry face” and a “laughter face” at around 35 weeks gestation.
Researchers examined facial movements on 4D ultrasound machines in the later stages of pregnancy.
While at 24 weeks foetuses could already move one muscle at a time in their face, such as stretch their lips or open their mouths, by 35 weeks they could combine complex movements such as a lowering of the eyebrows, lip stretch and wrinkled nose.
The research was led by Durham University psychologist Dr Nadja Reissland and Director of Research in Medicine and Health, Professor James Mason, as well as Lancaster University’s Professor Brian Francis and consultant obstetrician at Middlesbrough’s James Cook University Hospital Dr Karen Lincoln.
Professor Francis said: “This is a new and fascinating insight into the remarkable process of fetal development.
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“This research has for the first time demonstrated that in healthy foetuses there is a developmental progression from simple to complex facial movements, preparing the foetus for life post-birth.”
Dr Reissland added: “We have found so much more than we expected. We knew that the baby blinks before birth and that some research has identified scowling before birth.
“However in this study for the first time we have developed a method of coding and analysis which allows us to objectively trace the increasing complexity of movements over time which results in recognisable facial expressions.”
The discovery could help identify health problems while a baby is still in the womb, as there is a link between foetal behaviour patterns and the development of the brain.
The researchers now plan to look at whether foetal facial movement might help differentiate between foetuses of mothers who smoke during pregnancy and non-smokers.
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