The
Voyage of Life
Preparing for Pregnancy
Week 0 to 1
Week 1 to 2
Week 2 to 3
Week 3 to 4
Week 4 to 5
Week 5 to 6
Week 6 to 7
Week 7 to 8
Week 8 to 9
Week 9 to 10
Week 10 to 11
Week 11 to 12
Weeks 13 & 14
Weeks 15 & 16
Weeks 17 & 18
Weeks 19 & 20
Month 6 to 7
Month 7 to 8
Month 8 to 9
Month 9 to Birth

Week 9 to 10

Growth spurt, nails, and fingerprints

Human Prenatal Age
  • PCW 10
    i
    Post-Conception Week
  • Days 63-69
  • Gestational Week 12
Highlights

  • The fetus’s heart has beat over 10 million times already!1

  • All of the intestines, which grew so fast that they extended outside the embryo, just under the umbilical cord, are back in the abdomen.2 

  • The fetus’s body weight increases by over 75%.3

This week, the unborn child’s fingernails start to grow.  Just like an adult’s, the fetus’s nails grow out slowly from the nail bed. The fingernails won’t reach the fingertips until approximately 30 weeks after conception.4 The toenails start growing at 14 weeks after conception and finish growing by 34 weeks after conception.5

This image shows a real living fetus in the womb, recorded using fetoscopy. The nerve receptors on the face, hands, and feet of this fetus respond to light touch. If something touches the sole of her feet, she will curl her toes. Also notice how much her arms and legs have grown from the previous week. (Image Credit: The Center for Bio-Ethical Reform)

By nine weeks after conception, the fetus responds to light touch on the face, palms of the hand and soles of the feet.6  A light touch on the sole of the foot may cause the fetus to bend his knee and curl his toes.7

The first recorded eye movements come from the 10th week after conception. When something touches the upper eyelid, the eyes roll downward and the muscles around the eye ‘squint’.8  Furthermore, if researchers touch the palm of the fetus’s hand at this age, she curls her fingers in towards the object, but not her thumb. The fetus does not include her thumb in grasping an object until about 13 weeks after conception.9

Dive Deeper
When and How Fingerprints Form
Fingerprints start forming in the 10th week after conception...
Read More
Back to The Voyage of Life
Sources
  1. EHD: Appendix, “Appendix | Prenatal Overview.”https://www.ehd.org/dev_article_appendix.php
  2. Moore, Keith, TVN Persaud, and Mark G. Torchia. The Developing Human, Clinically Oriented Embryology. 10th ed. Philadelphia: Elsevier, 2016.
  3. William E. Brenner, David A. Edelman, and Charles H. Hendricks, “A Standard of Fetal Growth for the United States of America,” American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology 126, no. 5 (November 1, 1976): 555–64, https://doi.org/10.1016/0002-9378(76)90748-1.
  4. Mark Hill, “Integumentary System,” UNSW embyrology, 2020, https://embryology.med.unsw.edu.au/embryology/index.php/Integumentary_System_-_Nail_Development#Development_Overview.
  5. Mark Hill, “Integumentary System,” UNSW embyrology, 2020, https://embryology.med.unsw.edu.au/embryology/index.php/Integumentary_System_-_Nail_Development#Development_Overview.
  6. Humphrey, Tryphena. “Some Correlations between the Appearance of Human Fetal Reflexes and the Development of the Nervous System.” 1964. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0079-6123(08)61273-X.
  7. Robinson, R. J., and J. P. Tizard. “The Central Nervous System in the Newborn.” British Medical Bulletin 22, no. 1 (January 1966): 49–55. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordjournals.bmb.a070436.
  8. Humphrey, Tryphena. “Some Correlations between the Appearance of Human Fetal Reflexes and the Development of the Nervous System.” 1964. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0079-6123(08)61273-X.
  9. Humphrey, Tryphena. “Some Correlations between the Appearance of Human Fetal Reflexes and the Development of the Nervous System.” 1964. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0079-6123(08)61273-X.
See Full Bibliography

All images and illustrations on The Voyage of Life were reviewed by credentialed scientists for accuracy.

Medical art animation was used to provide a schematic representation of fetal development, with some features, including timing, not to scale. The animation was chosen as an ethically uncompromised guide to fetal development. There are many real human images at each developmental age showing the most accurate fetal forms throughout development. A concerted effort was made to use images and material in which the human embryo or fetus did not undergo any known harm.