Hold On Baby

When your newborn’s tiny hand grasps yours, it feels like your heart might melt…

Your newborn’s instinct to hold on tight to you is known as the palmar reflex, and it’s fascinating! Incredibly, you may be able to see your baby showing off the very beginnings of it at your first scan. “The palmar grasp starts to develop from week 11 of pregnancy and, after this time, you do see babies holding on to the umbilical cord in scans,” explains psychologist Sally Goddard Blythe. “At this stage, there’s just a closing of the fingers that may not even be in response to coming into contact with something. By 16 weeks she starts to use her thumb, too. And, by the time your baby is born, she will close her tiny fist around anything that touches the palm of her hand.” And this reflex is amazingly strong: “Research shows that a baby can hold her own body weight by this reflex,’ says Sally, ‘although obviously don’t test it out for yourself!”

SURVIVAL INSTINCT