New study: fetuses respond to taste and smell inside the womb

A British scientific study revealed that fetuses inside the womb respond to the taste and smell of foods eaten by mothers.

A research team at the University of Durham, British, imaged the fetuses inside the wombs of 100 mothers by magnetic resonance imaging, to record their response after exposure to the taste of different types of foods eaten by the mothers.

The researchers photographed a group of expectant mothers aged between 18 and 40 and during weeks 32 to 36 of pregnancy to measure the response of the fetuses when the mothers ate carrots and cabbage.

In the framework of the study published by the scientific journal Psychological Science, it was found that when mothers eat a piece of carrot, for example, the features of a smile are drawn on the face of the fetus, unlike what happens when mothers eat cabbage, for example, the features are similar to the “crying face.” The smile on the face of the fetus.

The researchers also believed that what mothers eat during pregnancy affects the tastes of newborns in food later on, and may have an impact on their eating habits in adulthood.

It is known that humans recognize foods through their senses of taste and smell.

In the case of fetuses, this is thought to occur through inhalation and ingestion of amniotic fluid within the womb.

And the website "Medical Express" that specializes in medical research quoted Besa Ostom, a researcher in the Department of Fetal Psychology at Durham University, that "a number of previous studies had indicated that fetuses can taste and smell while in the womb, but these studies were based on research conducted after birth. But this study is the first of its kind to address the reactions of fetuses before birth."