The 24th week of pregnancy is characterized by a number of specific changes in the fetus.
Location in the uterus
The position of the fetus in the womb is a very important clinical parameter. The location of the baby in the uterus must be assessed several times during the entire pregnancy. It is important to remember that the fetus can be positioned in the womb at 24 weeks of gestation in a very different way than just before delivery.
Usually, such a change in position occurs in restless children who like to actively move and even roll over. Quite a lot of different factors affect the location of the fetus.
The most favorable, from a physiological point of view, is the head presentation. In this case, the head will be born first, followed by other parts of the baby's body. Experts note that with a cephalic presentation, the risk of developing dangerous birth injuries and injuries is quite low. In this case, independent natural childbirth is possible.
A less favorable option for the location of the baby is breech presentation. In this case, the baby's pelvis is the first towards the birth canal. In breech presentation, the process of natural independent childbirth can be complicated by the development of various traumatic injuries in both the woman and the fetus.
Pregnant women, as a rule, when they hear from the doctor that the child is in breech position, begin to panic greatly. You should not panic: the position of the baby may change several times before giving birth. At 24 weeks of gestation, presentation is not yet final.
If the baby is in this position in the uterus, then the pregnant woman should be more attentive to her condition. She needs to monitor the possible appearance of various bloody discharge from the genital tract or the development of leakage of amniotic fluid.
If such symptoms appear, then you should not hesitate to seek medical help.
If the baby is in cephalic presentation, then this is a very favorable sign. Moderate fetal motor activity, as a rule, will not contribute to a change in the position of the baby in the uterus. If, for some reason, the child feels some discomfort and begins to push hard, then in this case he will be able to change his presentation over time.
First impressions
During this period of pregnancy, the baby's nerve analyzers are already quite developed. Numerous neurons “work” in the child's brain every day. A large number of special contacts or connections between them provide changes in the baby's behavior. It should be noted that every day the number of movements made by the baby increases significantly.
The mass of the brain in a fetus at 23-24 obstetric weeks of pregnancy is about 100 grams. The main grooves and convolutions have already been formed in it. With each subsequent day of pregnancy, the cerebral cortex continues to develop.
The intensive development of the nervous system also determines the fact that the child has the first sensations. Of course, they are still different from those that will appear in him after birth. With the help of nerve analyzers or sense organs, the baby begins to know himself and the water world in which he is still.
Vision
At the 24th week of pregnancy, the baby's eyes begin to open. The baby is still not doing this very willingly, since the bright light makes him unpleasant.
According to scientific research, the fetus, which is in the mother's womb, is able to respond to light facing him. So, when bright rays hit the child's face, he turns away from them. It is believed that high sun exposure can even enhance the baby's physical activity.
Outside, the eyes of the fetus are covered with eyelids. It is believed that by this period of pregnancy, the baby begins to develop the ability to circadian rhythm. Circadian rhythm is a child's ability to sleep at night and stay awake during the day. Until the 24th week of pregnancy, the fetus did not react in any way to the change of day and night - with each subsequent day of pregnancy, this ability to circadian rhythm in the baby will improve.
Hearing
The auditory analyzer, through which the baby can distinguish between different sounds at this stage of pregnancy, has already been formed. It should be noted that the full-fledged work of the organ will occur somewhat later - after the birth of the baby. However, the first manifestations of the functioning of the auditory analysis can be noted already at this period of intrauterine development of the fetus.
A baby at 24 weeks of gestation is already able to distinguish between different sounds and even voices. It is noticed that the mother's voice, as a rule, has a calming effect on the child who is in the womb.
Pleasant classical music also has a very beneficial effect on the baby's nervous system. Some scientists even believe that at this period of intrauterine development of the fetus, it is already possible to begin to shape its musical taste. To do this, they offer expectant mothers, who are at the 24th week of pregnancy, to listen to various musical compositions with their baby.
It is very important to choose the melodies in such a way that they do not cause any discomfort to the baby. If, while listening to a piece of music, a pregnant woman notices that the baby is kicking too hard in her stomach, then most likely the child simply does not like this melody - it is better to choose another one.
Reading fairy tales to him is an equally effective method of calming the baby. Of course, the baby will not be able to understand the meaning of what he has read, but a beneficial effect on his actively developing nervous system will be provided. Such joint reading of books and fairy tales also strengthens the psycho-emotional bond between mother and baby.
Taste
It is surprising that the baby, who weighs about half a kilogram, already has receptors on the tongue. They are able to distinguish between different flavors. Thus, the baby can “easily” recognize salty, sweet and even bitter tastes. He does this by swallowing amniotic fluid.
The taste of amniotic fluid is largely influenced by the foods that the expectant mother eats. Some scientists believe that taste habits and addictions in humans are formed precisely in the second trimester of pregnancy. So, in the future, the baby may become a sweet tooth or, conversely, fall in love with salty foods.
The amniotic fluid, which the fetus actively swallows, enters its body. In the future, some nutritional components, for example, glucose, are absorbed into the baby's bloodstream, while others are excreted through the kidneys and the urinary tubule system.
Experts have found that the fetus is able to swallow about 400-600 ml of amniotic fluid per day. This is necessary for him not only for the active development of the digestive and urinary systems, but also for the improvement of the respiratory muscles. The fact is that when swallowing amniotic fluid, the pectoral muscles are actively working. This involvement of the pectoral muscles further helps its development and is necessary for the child to take his first breath.
Physical activity
At 24 weeks, a pregnant expectant mother already feels her baby quite strongly. The kid usually actively kicks and pushes. A woman can experience such sensations in different parts of the abdomen. It depends on where her child is.
The fetus, as a rule, can knock with its legs or touch the walls of the uterus with its hands. A sufficiently large volume of the uterus allows the child to push off with his feet from one wall and move in the aquatic environment to the other. From the outside it may seem that the baby is "floating" in the mother's womb.
With each subsequent day of pregnancy, the nature of the movements will change: the baby grows, its weight and height increase, which leads to the fact that the motor activity of the fetus will manifest itself in a different way.
With multiple pregnancies, the behavior of the babies relative to each other is interesting. Gemini not only actively learn about their own body, touching their face and umbilical cord, but also touch individual parts of the body of a brother or sister. Ultrasound specialists note that during the study, it is interesting for them to look at the behavior of the twins in the uterus: children can hold each other's hands and even try to fight.
The motor activity of the fetus at this stage of pregnancy is a very important clinical criterion for determining the condition of the baby in the womb. Experts believe that during the day, the fetus must make at least 10 active movements. It should be noted that it happens that the baby is actively moving, but his mother does not feel all of his movements. This is influenced by a huge number of reasons.
In any case, if for some reason the motor activity of the fetus has changed significantly, then the woman should definitely discuss this fact with her obstetrician-gynecologist.
Body parameters
Each period of pregnancy is unique. With each week the baby continues to grow and develop. In order to determine the exact size of the fetus, doctors resort to an ultrasound examination method called fetometry. During this study, the doctor makes special measurements, and then reflects them in his medical report.
Determination of fetal body parameters is an important diagnostic criterion that allows specialists to understand how well intrauterine development is proceeding.
Height and weight are important clinical criteria for a child. Also, during the fetometry, the specialist can determine other clinical parameters.
Normal fetal clinical parameters are presented in the following table:
In addition to determining the parameters of the child's body, his heartbeat is necessarily assessed. At this stage of pregnancy, the baby's heart is already actively working, which pumps blood through the blood vessels. To assess the functioning of the cardiovascular system, doctors use the determination of the heart rate or heart rate.
Heart rate can be assessed by performing an ultrasound scan, as well as by listening directly to the abdomen with a stethoscope. If the baby is rather large, then the future dad can also hear his heart beating. To do this, he should simply put his ear to the belly where the baby "lives" and listen.
Heart rate is one of the most important clinical criteria for fetal well-being. For each period of pregnancy, there are norms for this indicator. The norms of this criterion are presented in the table below:
Appearance
The fruit looks like a real person, but only in a "miniature" version. The child has already formed the basic facial features. So, the contours of the nose and forehead are well defined. The cheeks are already formed in the fetus, but they are still quite flat.
The baby's skin is covered with wrinkles. The color of the skin is pink with a slight yellowish-gray tint due to primordial lubrication. It is formed by mixing the secretion of the sebaceous and sex glands with desquamated epithelium.
The fruit still seems rather thin. This is largely due to the baby's lack of a sufficient amount of brown adipose tissue. With each subsequent day of pregnancy, its amount in the child's body increases.
Brown adipose tissue is necessary for the baby so that he can live independently outside his mother's tummy. Having enough fat will help your baby stay warm after birth.
About what happens to the fetus and the expectant mother at the 24th week of pregnancy, see the next video.
