Search results for "Fetal age"
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Prenatal Mouth Movements: Can We Identify Co-Ordinated Fetal Mouth and LIP Actions Necessary for Feeding?
2012
Observations of prenatal movement patterns of mouth and lips essential for feeding could have the potential for an assessment of the readiness to feed after birth. Although there is some research on suckingper se, we know very little about prenatal preparatory movements for sucking, namely, the ability to co-ordinate opening the mouth widely and then pursing the lips as if around a teat or nipplein utero. The purpose of the present study was to test two hypotheses using an adapted version of the Facial Action Coding Scheme: first that mouth stretch (AU 27) will be followed by lip pucker (AU 18), and second that these coordinated movement patterns will increase as a function of gestational a…
The development of anticipation in the fetus: A longitudinal account of human fetal mouth movements in reaction to and anticipation of touch
2013
Research suggests that fetuses open or close their mouth in relation to directed movements but it is unclear whether mouth opening anticipates the touch or is a reaction to touch, as there has been no analysis so far of (1) the facial area of touch and (2) the sequential ordering of touch and mouth movements. If there is prenatal development of the anticipation of touch we would expect the frequency of fetal mouth opening immediately preceding the arriving hand at the mouth area to increase with fetal age. Fifteen healthy fetuses, eight girls and seven boys, underwent four additional 4-D scans at 24, 28, 32, and 36 weeks gestation. Changes in the frequency of touch for different facial regi…