Fertility Education Trust

understanding your fertility, page 8 of 14

The Unseen Life of the Baby

Day 30:

There is regular blood flow within a closed vascular system. The ears and nose start to develop.

Day 42:

The skeleton is now complete and reflexes are present. The liver, kidneys and lungs are formed.

Day 42:

Electrical brain wave patterns can be recorded.

Day 56:

All organs are functioning; growth and maturity are all that occur now, in the same way that a child grows into an adult.

Day 65:

The baby can make a fist and will grasp an object stroking the palm of its hand. It will also leap up and down in the womb with movements co-ordinated.

Week 16:

Baby is half its birth length, and its heart pumps fifty pints of blood a day.

Week 20:

Hair appears on the baby’s head and it weighs approx. l lb. (450g)

Week 28:

The baby can open its eyes and can hear its mother’s digestive processes and heart beat.

Week 40:

The baby emerges in labour and birth and the fertility cycle is complete - a child is born.