Day 170 of 280, second trimester
You are 24 weeks and 2 days
If you're feeling tired, you're not alone; your baby has been yawning for weeks.
110 days until your due date
All babies yawn in the uterus, although nobody knows exactly why. Yawning often comes with a shoulder shrug or stretch, just as when you're tired, and unborn babies have even been seen rubbing their eyes!
Your baby first yawned at around 15 weeks and has been yawning more and more since. There are several theories about why. It's hard to imagine an unborn baby being tired, but anemic babies yawn much more often than others. Another idea is that yawning helps regulate the amount of fluid or blood flow in the lungs. Or it may simply be a primitive reflex left over from an earlier stage of evolution, with no current purpose.
Whatever the reason, the fact that it starts so early and that all mammals yawn in the uterus suggests it plays an important, if unknown, role in development.
Explainer
Yawning on camera
Many unborn babies have been filmed yawning on 4D scans, which give a close-up view of fetal behavior.
Focus on
Your baby: Listen to Mommy
Your baby's ears are structurally complete, and studies show he can now hear clearly. Far from muffling noise, amniotic fluid conducts sound very well. Your heartbeat and digestion provide a constant background rhythm, but he's aware of other sounds too.
Talking to your baby will help you bond: research shows newborns recognize and turn toward their mother's voice in preference to other female voices. At first he'll hear deeper voices more clearly, then higher-pitched ones later, and of course he'll become most familiar with your voice because he hears it most.
Sudden noises may make your baby jump. In one study, scans showed babies had a "blink-startle" response to loud noises from around 26 weeks.
As a matter of fact
Left-handed babies
Women over 40 are more than twice as likely to have left-handed babies.
This Canadian finding may be because older women are more likely to have complications and harder deliveries, and several studies link left-handedness with birth stress.
Appointments and key dates around now
- Whooping cough vaccineUsually around 20 weeks, best before 32 weeks
Read the full 24 weeks pregnant guide
This is general information based on NHS guidance, not medical advice, and every pregnancy is different. Talk to your midwife or GP about anything that worries you. If your baby's movements slow down or change, or you have bleeding, severe pain or leaking fluid, call your maternity unit straight away. In an emergency, call 999.