Stages Of Baby Development
From the time of conception, cells start to grow and divide within the mother’s body and as the weeks and months progress then this mass of cells begin to develop into a fully formed child. At 11 weeks your baby is about 1.5 inches long (35 mm) and developed enough to start producing hormones. If the baby is a boy, it will start producing testosterone, and a girl will begin to grow her ovaries, and both sexes will start to form genitalia. The nervous system busy producing 250,000 neurons per minute, and the whole body is capable of feeling touch, except for the tongue.
Research indicates that a baby in utero can hear at around 18 weeks, which is when the bones of the inner ear together with the nerve endings from the brain are developed. Around this time your baby starts to become sensitive to light even though that their eye lids are still closed and by 33 weeks your baby can begin to make out shapes as the pupils start to constrict and dilate. It is also recognised that a baby can feel pain in the uterus, research also shows that they can also feel calm.
Therapeutic Massage – Good For The Unborn Baby
Research has shown that Pregnancy massage reduces stress hormones, increases endorphin and serotonin levels, relaxes muscles and promotes a state of well being. Massage also helps to improve blood and lymph circulation whilst bringing oxygen and nutrients, resulting in better nourishment to the baby.
Research has shown that if a mother is stressed or experiences a trauma, the unborn baby has been shown to respond and react to the increase in circulating cortisol (a stress hormone). The beauty of pregnancy massage is that the nurturing effect of touch calms our body and nervous system resulting in lowered levels of anxiety and stress. The mother will also receive the benefits of relaxation and a balance of hormones, which is in turn passed onto her unborn baby as cortisol and endorphin levels are brought into balance.