Customer question:
Can a fetus in the womb have hiccups? Anonymous customer's question
Pharmacist's answer:
In the womb, during pregnancy, the fetus does not yet have a developed nervous system and respiratory functions in the way that it has after birth. Hiccups, as a reflex experienced after birth, are related to the development of the respiratory and nervous systems. In the early stage of pregnancy, when the baby is still developing in the womb, it cannot breathe. The fetus receives oxygen and nutrients through the uterine wall and the umbilical cord. There is also no air in the fetal respiratory system until birth when the baby takes its first breath of outside air.
Baby hiccups in the womb are slight movements of the baby's diaphragm. When the baby inhales, amniotic fluid enters its lungs, causing the developing diaphragm to contract. The result? A slight case of hiccups in the womb.
Interesting reading: Hiccups in a newborn
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