The first time when I first felt baby’s hiccups, I was quite intrigued by this kind of jerky and rhythmic movements. After that, once in a while, I felt her hiccups, which became more and more noticeable.
What is fetal hiccups? How come baby has hiccups inside the tummy since there is no air there?
The book What to Expect When You Are Expecting
Therefore, as usual, I turned to the Internet looking for answers.
According to Sophia Levis, hiccups in the unborn baby are just a fetal reflex that is remarkably similar to our own. Only the more mature fetuses will hiccup, as hiccups rely on the development of the central nervous system. Some experts think that hiccups in utero are a response to fetal drinking or fetal breathing, which causes the flow of amniotic fluid in and out of the lungs, stimulating the diaphragm to contract.
Excitedly, I found one mother had already asked the same question on Yahoo Anwers. And fortunately, a member named “a6385u” gave us a pretty good answer:
Hiccups are not caused by air; they are caused by spasms of the diaphragm, which in turn are caused by pressure being forced on the nerve that supplies the diaphragm, the phrenic nerve. According to Wikipedia, “ultrasound scans have also shown that fetuses experience hiccups. Some hypotheses suggest that hiccups are a muscle exercise for the child’s respiratory system prior to birth, or that they prevent amniotic fluid from entering the lungs.” So, like in “born” persons, hiccups are not the result of air, but of muscles.
So there is nothing to worry about. I will just relax and enjoy this little entertainment from within.
Fetal Movements, From Lina, Late-Pregnancy, Pregnancy | Lina | 
April 22, 2008 7:32 am | 
Comments (0)
Leave a Comment