Abstract
To assess whether foetal mouth movement frequency changes across gestation and whether there are differences between cigarette and e-cigarette exposure conditions in comparison to a non-exposed group of foetuses. Pregnant women underwent 4-dimensional (4D) foetal ultrasound scans at 32weeks (106 scans) and 36weeks of gestational age (87 scans) at James Cook University Hospital, UK. The 4D scans were coded using the Fetal Observable Movement System (FOMS). Measures of maternal smoking status, stress, depression, anxiety, attachment and time of scan were also collected. There were four exposure groups: non-smokers, light smokers (<10 per day), heavy smokers (11-20per day) and e-cigarette users. No significant differences in relative frequency of mouth movements between the exposure groups at 32- and 36weeks of gestational age were found. Foetal mouth movements declined from 32 to 36weeks of gestation for non-exposed and e-cigarette-exposed foetuses. Due to variability in foetal behaviour, examining mouth movements alone may not be the most appropriate method for assessing group differences. However, in line with other research, mouth movement frequency declined between 32- and 36weeks of gestational age. A combination of foetal behavioural assessments is needed to assess the effects of cigarette and e-cigarette exposure on foetal neurobehavioural development.
Highlights
Mouth movements can provide an indication of the central nervous system (CNS) development in the foetus, with the potential to identify normal and abnormal development in utero.[1]
There was no significant correlation between 32-and 36-week data (r = −0.09, p = 0.42), and due to data not meeting the assumptions of an ANOVA, separate Kruskal–Wallis tests were conducted
For relative frequency of mouth movements, when time of day was considered, there were no significant differences between the four groups X2(3) = 7.38, p = 0.06, d = 0.43
Summary
Mouth movements can provide an indication of the central nervous system (CNS) development in the foetus, with the potential to identify normal and abnormal development in utero.[1] In attempts to begin to examine this, research using 4D ultrasound scans has identified that when the mother experiences extreme sickness and lack of nutrition in her pregnancy, these foetuses had significantly higher rates of mouth movements as identified by the Fetal Observable Movement System (FOMS)[2] at 32 weeks of gestation in comparison to non-affected foetuses.[3] for genetic disorders such as Prader–Willi Syndrome, a postnatally diagnosed foetus. |2 displayed significantly fewer mouth movements in comparison to a control group of healthy foetuses.[4] Given that these foetuses displayed different patterns of behaviour in comparison to healthy controls, it could be argued that maternal health status and foetal genetic disorders can affect the development and function of the CNS differently. Maternal smoking during pregnancy has been shown to lead to different foetal mouth movement profiles.[5]
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