Development of Normal Fetal Movements

After graduating in Medicine and Surgery at the University of Milan, Italy, Alessandra Piontelli qualified as a specialist in Neurology and Psychiatry at the University of Parma. For more than a decade she worked at the Tavistock Clinic, London, where her responsibilities included teaching child neurology and psychiatry. In 1983 she was appointed Visiting Professor by the Department of Child Neurology and Psychiatry, University of Milan. Since 1990 she has worked at the First Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Milan, where she is involved in research into fetal and neonatal behavior and physiology and maternal behavior during pregnancy and the early post-partum period. In 2007 she was Visiting Professor at the University of Stellenbosch, South Africa and, in 2011, Visiting Professor and Master in Pre-Natal and Peri-Natal Education at the University of Valencia, Spain. Her previous books include Backwards in Time: a Study in Infant Observation (Karnac Books, 1986), From Fetus to Child (Routledge, 1992), Twins: From Fetus to Child (Routledge, 2002), and Twins in the World (McMillan-Palgrave, 2008).

Introduction.- General Movements.- Localized or Isolated Movements.- Fetal Breathing Movements and Shallow Fetal Breathing Movements.- Swallowing, Sucking, and Mouthing.- Startles, Twitches and Cloni.​- Seemingly trivial fetal motions: Yawning and Hiccups.- Fetuses: Facial Motions or Facial Expressions?.- Fetal Behavioral States.- Twin Fetuses: Facts and Late-Pregnancy Twin Myths.- Fetal Sensory Abilities.- Conclusions.- Index.