“Father of Fetalogy” describes fetal development

Sir Albert William Liley is often called the “Father of Fetology” for all of his research in embryology and the development of the unborn baby. Here, he talks about fetal development:

The prerequisites for motion are the muscles and nerves. In the sixth to seventh week, nerves and muscles work together for the first time. If the area of the lips, the first to become sensitive to touch, is gently stroked, the child responds by bending the upper body to one side and making a quick backward motion with his arms.…

By the beginning of the ninth week, the baby moves spontaneously without being touched. Sometimes his whole body swings back and forth for a few moments. By eight and a half weeks the eyelids and the palms of the hands become sensitive to touch. If the eyelid is stroked, the child squints. On the stroking of the palm, the fingers close into a small fist.…

… Every child shows a distinct individuality in his behavior by the end of the third month. This is because the actual structure of the muscles of the face, for example, follows an inherited pattern. The facial expressions of the baby in his third month is already similar to the facial expressions of his parents.

… Further refinements are noted in the third month. The fingernails appear. The child’s face becomes much prettier. His eyes, previously far apart, now move closer together. The eyelids close over the eyes. Sexual differentiation is apparent in both internal and external sex organs and primitive eggs and sperm are formed. The vocal cords are completed. In the absence of air they cannot produce sound; the child cannot cry aloud until birth, although he is capable of crying long before.”

Abortion and Social Justice edited by Thomas Hilgers and Dennis Horan. Quoted in Monica Migliorino Miller Abandoned: the Untold Story of the Abortion Wars (Charlotte, North Carolina: St. Benedict Press, 2012) 114 to 115

Reprinted from Clinicquotes.com

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