24-week old fetus yawning
(Image credit: Nadja Reissland)
Though the exact purpose of yawning is a mystery, 4-D ultrasound images reveal that fetuses yawn in utero
27-week old fetus
(Image credit: Nadja Reissland)
Yawns can be distinguished from feeding reflexes because yawning mouths spend longer open and have a shorter closing period.
28-week old fetus
(Image credit: Nadja Reissland)
As babies mature, they yawn less frequently. Researchers believe yawning may help trigger brain development.
32-week old fetus
(Image credit: Nadja Reissland)
Because yawning frequency changes throughout pregnancy, yawn patterns could be used as a marker of healthy development.
Yawning in utero
(Image credit: Wolfgang Moroder)
By the time babies are full-term, they have stopped yawning in the womb.
Fetal Faces
(Image credit: Nadja Reissland)
Researchers used ultrasound images of fetuses' faces, like these, to track how they used progressively more complex facial movements.