Questions about birth

[schopenh]

These questions are swimming around my mind right now. Maybe there is a biologist/doctor or someone else who has some information

Are babies 'asleep' right up until birth? EDIT 3: I got an answer to this: no. They do sleep around 90% of the time up to the 32 week mark. Then they sleep less and less.

If yes/no, then what state is a babies brain in until birth? EDIT 3 cont: In sleep they have deep sleep, REM and some other state. When they are awake it is analogous to any other creature with their development. They explore their surroundings and themselves.

Is there a biological switch activated at birth which essentially turns the baby 'on'?

What biological processes instigate labor in the woman?

I'm going to read the wiki page on birth now as somewhere to start

EDIT 1: from wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birth)
"The mother's body is prepared for birth by hormones produced by the pituitary gland, the ovary and the placenta.[2] The total gestation period from fertilization to birth is normally about 38 weeks (birth usually occurring 40 weeks after the last menstrual period)."

EDIT 2: this article was interesting https://www.parents.com/pregnancy/stages/fetal-development/babys-alertness-in-the-womb/

 

[Deleted member 19654]

I know that the cerebral cortex part of the brain develops when pregnancy is about to come to an end, before the baby is born. This part of the brain is responsible for memories, conscious thought, our voluntary actions, when we think etc. So when a baby is born, they're able to hear, breathe etc. It's only around 5 months that they're able to start developing consciousness and basic memories

 

[schopenh]

I know that the cerebral cortex part of the brain develops when pregnancy is about to come to an end, before the baby is born. This part of the brain is responsible for memories, conscious thought, our voluntary actions, when we think etc. So when a baby is born, they're able to hear, breathe etc. It's only around 5 months that they're able to start developing consciousness and basic memories

Incredible. Thanks for sharing that!

 

[Deleted member 1465]

I don't believe a baby is switched on at some point. That concept of life or conciousness is most likely unrealistic. Consciousness develops along a gradual continuum, it's simply that we tend to want to see things as well defined, either this or that, because that's conceptually easier. I don't think nature works that way.

 

[schopenh]

I don't believe a baby is switched on at some point. That concept of life or conciousness is most likely unrealistic. Consciousness develops along a gradual continuum, it's simply that we tend to want to see things as well defined, either this or that, because that's conceptually easier. I don't think nature works that way.

Yes I think so too. I just read that close to birth babies walk around the womb, bounce up and down and explore their own bodies. They can even lick the umbilical cord. I wonder if they cry or do something analogous.

 

[Deleted member 1465]

Yes I think so too. I just read that close to birth babies walk around the womb, bounce up and down and explore their own bodies. They can even lick the umbilical cord. I wonder if they cry or do something analogous.

I bet they are just gagging to get out and explore, because their biology is telling them to! Bit of a shock for them when it happens though.

 

[schopenh]

I bet they are just gagging to get out and explore, because their biology is telling them to! Bit of a shock for them when it happens though.

hahaha! the f*** is this place? let me back in !

 

[Soulless Angel]

As a women who has been pregnant, when they start kicking around 18 weeks for me, I used to wonder if movements where random, or whether the unborn child was doing so intentionally, but then when I would poke a certain area, it would react to the poke, if I played music direct to the bump again it would react, it made me wonder if there is something building before they are born, at which point they enter the world and are grumpy sods, poss regretting that last part!!

 

[Deleted member 19654]

As a women who has been pregnant, when they start kicking around 18 weeks for me, I used to wonder if movements where random, or whether the unborn child was doing so intentionally, but then when I would poke a certain area, it would react to the poke, if I played music direct to the bump again it would react, it made me wonder if there is something building before they are born, at which point they enter the world and are grumpy sods, poss regretting that last part!!

It's crazy that we can have another human growing inside of us. Someone once told me that they could feel their baby hiccuping inside them and it was so strange to me.

Their nervous system starts to develop when they're still in the womb and they start to develop basic reflexes so that's probably why they're able to respond to stimuli like your touch etc.

 

[schopenh]

As a women who has been pregnant, when they start kicking around 18 weeks for me, I used to wonder if movements where random, or whether the unborn child was doing so intentionally, but then when I would poke a certain area, it would react to the poke, if I played music direct to the bump again it would react, it made me wonder if there is something building before they are born, at which point they enter the world and are grumpy sods, poss regretting that last part!!

That's such a lovely story!

 

[Soulless Angel]

It's crazy that we can have another human growing inside of us. Someone once told me that they could feel their baby hiccuping inside them and it was so strange to me.

Their nervous system starts to develop when they're still in the womb and they start to develop basic reflexes so that's probably why they're able to respond to stimuli like your touch etc.

the hiccups are the weirdest yet cutest thing, you could see the bump move in rhythm to the hiccups, I feel so shit posting about this, as I knw so many on here are anti children, stating that we do not chose to live, and did not ask to be born, it makes it so hard, preganacy and giving birth to a child is an amazing feeling, yet at the same time its full of heartache and regret and questioning of what you are doing