Month 8

Newborn babies prefer the same flavors tasted and sounds heard inside their mother’s womb. For example:

• Five and six-month old infants made fewer negative faces for carrot flavored cereal if their mothers drank carrot juice four times a week for 3 weeks when she was 8 months pregnant.¹²
• One-month-old infants had a stronger calming response to a simple melody they had heard their mother play twice a day from 35 to 37 weeks gestation without continued exposure.¹³
• Newborns less than 3 days old preferred a story that their mother had read aloud in the last 6 weeks of pregnancy.¹⁴
• Newborns less than a week old preferred a lullaby that their mothers sang for 2 months while they were pregnant, compared to an unfamiliar lullaby.¹⁵
• Newborns less than 5 days old preferred classical music that they heard in the last 6 weeks before birth.¹⁶

As the unborn baby’s ability to recognize familiar rhymes and tastes improves dramatically,¹⁷ the brain simultaneously undergoes a surge of growth. In fact, the creation of synapses between neurons peaks around 34 weeks gestation, creating the connections that make learning and memory possible.¹⁸

Skin pigmentation begins early but matures gradually over time. By about 9 weeks of pregnancy, melanocytes—the cells that produce pigment—can be found in the developing skin.²⁶ Strikingly, individuals of different skin tones have roughly the same number of these cells;²⁷ what differs is how much melanin they produce and how it is distributed within the epidermis.²⁸ Melanin production starts during the second trimester, with darker-skinned babies showing visible pigment before birth, while lighter-skinned infants produce less melanin prenatally.²⁹ Even so, skin color differences are subtle until around 32 weeks,³⁰ and pigmentation continues to deepen after birth as melanocytes become more active after light exposure.³¹

Depending on country and other factors, more than 90% of babies born at 8 months gestation survive,^{36 37 38 39} with one study in the United States demonstrating a 99% survival rate!⁴⁰

At 34 weeks, the fetal heart pumps about 990 quarts of blood each day, which would fill about 10 bathtubs. For comparison, an adult heart pumps 6,000 quarts of blood each day, which would likely fill 3 large hot tubs.⁴¹

At 32 weeks, the unborn baby practices breathing almost 40% of the time.⁴²

By about 19 weeks, the fetus begins making brown fat, which helps produce heat. White fat, which stores energy, develops later. By 28 weeks, white fat makes up about 3.5% of body weight. By month 8, it rises to 8%. At full term, it reaches nearly 16% of the baby’s weight, and starts making the baby’s cheeks chubby.^{43 44}