How babies learn to show pain

Thursday June 6th, 2013

Babies in the womb learn to screw up their faces - and by 36 weeks of pregnancy can give an expression of pain, researchers reveal today.

Dramatic pictures, obtained from so-called 4D imaging, show the development of facial expressions.

Researchers say they do not know if the expressions represent real pain - or whether they represent the face developing the ability to show expressions.

The work at Durham University, UK, involved taking scans of 15 healthy babies between 24 and 36 weeks of pregnancy.

The researchers, reporting in the journal PLoS One, say that at 24 weeks babies were showed simple "one dimensional" expressions such as a smile.

By 36 weeks they were capable of screwing their faces up into an expression of pain.

Researcher Dr Nadja Reissland said: "It is vital for infants to be able to show pain as soon as they are born so that they can communicate any distress or pain they might feel to their carers and our results show that healthy foetuses 'learn' to combine the necessary facial movements before they are born.

"This suggests that we can determine the normal development of facial movements and potentially identify abnormal development too. This could then provide a further medical indication of the health of the unborn baby."

Reissland N, Francis B, Mason J. Can Healthy Fetuses Show Facial Expressions of Pain or Distress PLoS ONE 6 June 2013; 8(6): e65530. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0065530

Tags: Child Health | Childbirth and Pregnancy | Pain Relief | UK News | Women's Health & Gynaecology

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