Introduction

Pregnancy is one of the most cherished and magical times in a woman’s life. Our body undergoes miraculous changes to accommodate for the developing fetus.

As you feel the powerful kicks of the little fetus inside your womb, you might be wondering about the child it will become.

Is the fetus energetic and restless? Is it kicking and pushing against your belly? When you see those adorable ultrasound images, what is the fetus doing?

Fascinating fetal development research is underway to tackle these questions.

Fetal psychology, the study of fetus behavior, can offer some interesting clues about the personality of your child. If you are ready for a glimpse into the future, then read on. 

How is a Child’s Temperament Formed?

The precise biological mechanisms responsible for a child’s temperament still can’t be determined. It is believed that biological reactions at the molecular level, innate genetic makeup passed through many generations and the environment of the pregnant mother may contribute to a child’s personality traits. Other factors include the family’s socioeconomic status, a mother’s mood and delivery complications.

While inside the womb, the fetus uses primitive reflexes, including automatic movements generated in the brainstem, to develop subsequent brain structures. These involuntary movements (breathing, hiccups and smiling) can be detected as early as 7.5 weeks of gestation.

Once the baby emerges into the world, early life experiences build behavioral traits through fetal programming. The brain wires itself throughout a person’s lifetime in an ongoing process whereby brain pathways that are constructed and deconstructed. Brain structures cross communicate in an intricate, weblike design that is based on the developing child’s needs and environmental pressure. For example, when parents sign up their toddler for piano lessons (environmental trigger), the brain must learn the new skill of playing a musical instrument. It does so by establishing sophisticated brain networks (collection of brain cells firing together) that are recruited for this purpose.

We now know that the critical time to chisel the architecture of the developing brain is ages 0-8, since the brain is at its most malleable or plastic state of growing and learning.¹

What is the First Sense that the Growing Fetus Develops? 

Touch is the very first sense your fetus develops inside the womb, observed as early as 8 weeks of pregnancy! It serves as a scaffold for all other sensory inputs from the outside world. Classified as a part of the somatosensory system, touch receptors form on the lips and nose of the growing fetus. These serve as a gateway to connect external stimuli (physical touch) and its perception by the brain (feeling a light brush of the skin).²  

Having an ability to sense touch also helps develop the swallowing and coughing reflexes. The sensation of amniotic fluid against the throat teaches the fetus how to swallow, a survival mechanism needed in the real world.

Touching a hand to the face, for example, brings comfort to a developing child in later years. This is a habit formed early in the womb, which helps shape the brain pathways responsible for the sense of touch. For some children, early sensory experiences in the womb might even follow a them throughout childhood, as illustrated in the images above.

An important evolutionary advantage the sense of touch can provide is that of interpersonal socialization. Researchers have observed twins and multiple fetuses interacting with one another while inside the womb. These observations were made as early as the 14^th week of pregnancy. Studies of in utero ultrasound imaging in five pairs of twins suggest that social interactions in humans begin before birth and demonstrates that our brains are pre-wired for socialization.³

Once born, temperature fluctuations felt on the baby’s skin and its mother’s warmth as it is placed on her chest trigger the crying reflex. This is oftentimes followed by the coughing reflex to clear liquid from the baby’s throat, altogether forming an integral part of the baby’s success in the world.

Can Fetal Movements in utero Predict a Child’s Temperament?

A connection has been established between in utero fetal activity and the baby’s personality after birth. While the level of consciousness of the developing fetus is still a mystery, neuroscientists believe that the fetal brain is building sensorimotor maps of key brain structures. By relying on spontaneous motor movements inside the womb, the fetal brain is beginning to construct the motor pathways that will guide it as an adult.

Each time the fetus twitches or moves a limb to touch a different part of its body, the brain circuit corresponding to that region is activated. As the fetus matures, these movements will synchronize with sensory information. The incoming messages from the five senses will integrate into the brain’s neural architecture and provide the basis for complicated brain network formation.⁴

The timeline of the developing fetal brain is shown in the figure below. It depicts the complex interplay of multiple brain structures working simultaneously to create the individualized blueprint of a child with a unique personality.

Personal Story of an Athletic Fetus

My sweet little girl revealed her strong personality early on from inside the womb. Her kicks were so powerful, that one evening it shook our entire bed!

That night, I decided to play Mozart’s classical music to her by placing an iPad on my pregnant belly during the 3rd trimester. With Mozart’s symphony blasting and with the dog curled up against my legs, I felt a powerful kick that nearly sent the dog flying off the bed.

To this day I can’t tell whether my girl loved or hated Mozart, but what I can say with confidence is that she is one athletic child.

During the first few months of life, when we placed her one side of the crib, she always ended up on the other side by sunrise. This happened months before she could walk. Since the moment that little girl took her first steps to this day at 8 years old, she is running circles around us like a true athlete.

Conclusions

Every child is a product of the interactions between genes and the environment. This complex interplay between nature and nurture shapes the child’s behavior and temperament.

While research studies provide valuable insights into fetal development, most rely on a small sample size and use fancy mathematical models to reach conclusions that might not be relevant to the entire population. 

Yet every now and then, it is fun to think about in utero fetal personalities.

An interesting experiment that you can undertake at the comfort of your own home is to journal about unique fetal behaviors that you observe during pregnancy. What characteristics did your fetus display in the womb? How do they match your baby’s personality during the first years of life?

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We would love to celebrate the uniqueness of each child!

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