Further Reading

Before they were born, your baby could hear the voices of the people around them and they will already recognise your voice. While in the womb they started to develop the muscles needed to make sounds – the sucking reflex began to develop at around 6 months' gestation, so your baby will have been practising sucking and swallowing for a little while before their arrival.^[1]

Hearing and making sounds  

Although your baby’s vision isn't fully developed at birth – what they see is blurry – they are likely to prefer looking at faces.^[1] Your baby’s interest in people is the starting point for interaction and, as they develop, they will not only watch you but also respond when you look at them, smile or speak. 

During pregnancy, your baby has had their needs met immediately; being in the womb provides a steady temperature, being gently rocked and having nutrients provided through the umbilical cord. After birth, they are completely dependent on others and much of the first few weeks of life for your new baby is about sleeping, feeding and growing. 

Now that their needs are not immediately met they will experience a wider range of feelings and emotions, including hunger, being tired and discomfort, and will be dependent on those caring for them to help them with these feelings, especially in the fourth trimester.^[1]  

Your baby started to get to know you before they were born – they've heard your voice and the voices of people around you, and have been sensitive to your emotions.^[1] Despite not having fully developed vision, newborn babies do show a preference for looking at faces.^[2] This is linked to their social and language development, because they look at faces to help them learn about people,^[3] interaction and conversation.  

Face recognition starts early!

Research shows that putting your baby on their back to sleep, for every sleep or nap during the day and at night, reduces the risk of sudden infant death syndrome.^[1] However, spending supervised time on their tummy when they are awake and alert supports the development of your baby’s upper body strength, as well as giving them a different view of things, which might help them to explore and develop their understanding of the world.

The asymmetrical tonic neck reflex which emerges before your baby is born ensures that when lying on their tummy their head is turned to one side so that their airway is free.^[2] You might notice this when you lie your baby on their tummy on the floor or your chest.  

Your baby will have been moving for some time before birth, with their first movements linked to the activity of motor neurons, then movements caused by primitive reflexes in response to sensory stimulus.^[1] You might have noticed a professional checking for some of these primitive reflexes shortly after birth, perhaps holding your baby upright in order to see stepping or walking reflexes. The first movements that you may see soon after your baby is born might be shaky movements of their chin, arms or legs, particularly when they cry.^[2]

Early movement – from curled up to stretching out

Your baby will have started to move their arms and legs before they were born – you might have even spotted them sucking their thumb during a scan. Now they are learning about their body in this new environment and their movements help them to build their muscles and to develop a sense of where their body begins and ends. 

Your baby develops various primitive reflexes before they are born and sometimes soon after birth; the primitive reflexes are actions that happen in response to sensory stimuli. Primitive reflexes are mediated by the brainstem – the part of the brain that controls things such as breathing – as your baby’s brain develops, these reflexes become inhibited as higher areas of the brain develop.^[1]