Fetal and neonatal hand movement.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Fetal movement occurs early in human gestation and can be observed by ultrasound imaging. This was a descriptive study of fetal hand movements from 14 weeks of gestation to postnatal day 1. The purpose of the study was to identify specific hand movements and their developmental trends in order to better understand low-risk human development. SUBJECTS Twenty-one women with low-risk pregnancies were identified from a university obstetrics clinic. Their fetuses or neonates were the focus of this study. METHODS Ultrasound imaging was used at 14, 20, 26, 32, and 37 weeks of gestation, and videotaping was used at 1 day after birth. Between 12 and 16 minutes of usable imaging was obtained at each fetal age, and 24 minutes of videotape was collected neonatally. The duration and frequency of 7 hand movements were determined and reliably scored. Nonparametric analyses were used. RESULTS Fetal and neonatal movements did not appear to be random, and they appeared to be directed or aimed at specific targets. Fetal movement was variable throughout gestation. Differences occurred between fetal and neonatal data. Durations of certain hand movements provided data that exhibited some developmental trends, such as decreasing linear trends and regression-type U curves. Fetal movements to or at the head and face and the observations scored at 32 weeks of gestation were the best predictors of neonatal movement. CONCLUSION AND DISCUSSION Results suggest the potential for fetal movement to be observed and scored reliably, with scores used to further our understanding of the development of human movement.

[1]  August B. Hollingshead,et al.  Two Factor Index of Social Position , 1957 .

[2]  Hugh Jolly,et al.  Clinics in Developmental Medicine , 1965 .

[3]  J. Piaget,et al.  The Origins of Intelligence in Children , 1971 .

[4]  E. Reinold.  Clinical value of fetal spontaneous movements in early pregnancy , 1973, Journal of perinatal medicine.

[5]  T. Brazelton,et al.  Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale , 1973 .

[6]  R. H. PITTMAN,et al.  Neuromuscular blockade increases motoneurone survival during normal cell death in the chick embryo , 1978, Nature.

[7]  J. Gibson.  The Ecological Approach to Visual Perception , 1979 .

[8]  T. Stengel.  The Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale , 1981 .

[9]  J. D. de Vries,et al.  The emergence of fetal behaviour. I. Qualitative aspects. , 1982, Early human development.

[10]  R. Oppenheim,et al.  Electrical stimulation of hindlimb increases neuronal cell death in chick embryo , 1982, Nature.

[11]  Leon A. Frizzell,et al.  American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine , 1983 .

[12]  H. Prechtl,et al.  Continuity of neural functions from prenatal to postnatal life , 1984 .

[13]  M. Harrison,et al.  The unborn patient: Prenatal diagnosis and treatment , 1984 .

[14]  J. Kauer,et al.  Neural control of hatching: fate of the pattern generator for the leg movements of hatching in post-hatching chicks , 1984, The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience.

[15]  J C Fentress,et al.  Early ontogeny of face grooming in mice. , 1985, Developmental psychobiology.

[16]  S. Pavlakis.  Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale, 2nd ed. , 1986, Neurology.

[17]  Jonas H. Ellenberg,et al.  Antecedents of cerebral palsy. Multivariate analysis of risk. , 1986 .

[18]  N. Forger,et al.  Motoneuronal death during human fetal development , 1987, The Journal of comparative neurology.

[19]  K. Benirschke,et al.  Antenatal origin of neurologic damage in newborn infants: I. Preterm infants , 1988 .

[20]  G. Visser,et al.  The emergence of fetal behaviour. III. Individual differences and consistencies. , 1988, Early human development.

[21]  Ultrasonic evaluation of fetal body movements over twenty-four hours in the human fetus at twenty-four to twenty-eight weeks' gestation. , 1988, American journal of obstetrics and gynecology.

[22]  M. Ziskin,et al.  Bioeffects considerations for the safety of diagnostic ultrasound. American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine. Bioeffects Committee. , 1988, Journal of ultrasound in medicine : official journal of the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine.

[23]  G. Butterworth,et al.  Hand-mouth coordination in the new-born baby , 1988 .

[24]  H. Forssberg,et al.  Neurobiology of Early Infant Behaviour , 1989 .

[25]  Claes von Hofsten,et al.  The Organization of Arm and Hand Movements in the Neonate , 1989 .

[26]  H. Prechtl.  Qualitative changes of spontaneous movements in fetus and preterm infant are a marker of neurological dysfunction. , 1990, Early human development.

[27]  J. Nijhuis,et al.  The association between fetal body movements, eye movements and heart rate patterns in pregnancies between 25 and 30 weeks of gestation. , 1990, Early human development.

[28]  J. M. Swartjes,et al.  Coincidence of behavioural state parameters in the human fetus at three gestational ages. , 1990, Early human development.

[29]  H. Prechtl,et al.  Classification and quantitative aspects of fetal movements during the second half of normal pregnancy. , 1991, Early human development.

[30]  Peter G. Hepper,et al.  Handedness in the human fetus , 1991, Neuropsychologia.

[31]  T. Achenbach,et al.  National survey of problems and competencies among four- to sixteen-year-olds: parents' reports for normative and clinical samples. , 1991, Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development.

[32]  E. Thelen,et al.  Hidden skills: a dynamic systems analysis of treadmill stepping during the first year. , 1991, Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development.

[33]  Brian Lamb,et al.  Aetiology of cerebral palsy , 1992, British journal of obstetrics and gynaecology.

[34]  J. W. Sparling.  Concepts in Fetal Movement Research , 1993 .

[35]  T. Koyanagi,et al.  Abnormal Behavioral Patterns in the Human Fetus at Term: Correlation with Lesion Sites in the Central Nervous System after Birth , 1993, Journal of child neurology.

[36]  E. Thelen,et al.  The transition to reaching: mapping intention and intrinsic dynamics. , 1993, Child development.

[37]  J. W. Sparling,et al.  Quantitative Measurement of Fetal Movement , 1993 .

[38]  Karl M. Newell,et al.  Variability and Motor Control , 1993 .

[39]  G. Kaplan,et al.  Fetal grasping of the umbilical cord causing variable fetal heart rate decelerations , 1993, Journal of clinical ultrasound : JCU.

[40]  W. Gentry,et al.  Ultrasound Safety:: A Descriptive Study of the Potential Effects of Early Imaging , 1993 .

[41]  T. Long,et al.  Periods of Activity and Inactivity in the 12-to 16-Week Fetus , 1993 .

[42]  D. Sival,et al.  Studies on fetal motor behaviour in normal and complicated pregnancies. , 1993, Early human development.

[43]  Can brain impairment be detected by in utero behavioural patterns? , 1993, Archives of disease in childhood.

[44]  G. Edelman,et al.  Solving Bernstein's problem: a proposal for the development of coordinated movement by selection. , 1993, Child development.

[45]  Relationship of Mechanical and Movement Factors to Prenatal Musculoskeletal Development , 1993 .

[46]  B. Hopkins,et al.  Effects of birthweight status and gestational age on the quality of general movements in preterm newborns. , 1993, Biology of the neonate.

[47]  G. Visser,et al.  Abnormal motor behaviour and developmental postmortem findings in a fetus with Fanconi anaemia. , 1994, Early human development.

[48]  B. Hopkins,et al.  Prenatal head position from 12-38 weeks. I. Developmental aspects. , 1994, Early human development.

[49]  D. Abbott,et al.  Long-term effects of prenatal stress on HPA axis activity in juvenile rhesus monkeys. , 1994, Developmental psychobiology.

[50]  William P. Fifer,et al.  Fetal development : a psychobiological perspective , 1995 .

[51]  S. Gabbe,et al.  Ease and accuracy of evaluation of fetal hands during obstetrical ultrasonography: a prospective study. , 1995, Journal of ultrasound in medicine : official journal of the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine.

[52]  L. Groome,et al.  Maternal anxiety during pregnancy: effect on fetal behavior at 38 to 40 weeks of gestation. , 1995 .

[53]  T R Johnson,et al.  Development of fetal movement--fetal heart rate coupling from 20 weeks through term. , 1996, Early human development.

[54]  Assessment of Fetal Knee Angular Velocity as a Possible Method to Determine the Effect of Prenatal Exposure to Cocaine , 1996 .

[55]  S. Grillner,et al.  Neural networks for vertebrate locomotion. , 1996, Scientific American.

[56]  M. Hadders‐Algra,et al.  Assessment of general movements: towards a better understanding of a sensitive method to evaluate brain function in young infants , 1997, Developmental medicine and child neurology.

[57]  B. Longo,et al.  Urinary Tract Infection in Diabetic Patients , 2000, Urologia Internationalis.