Parentpedia

What Experts Say^*

Other than allowing your baby to think, move, feel, see, hear, taste, and smell, the brain is of no particular importance.

Brain growth and development are largely genetically determined. Environmental factors also affect brain development, beginning in the womb. What you eat and drink affect the development of your baby's brain.

If you want to have the smartest baby in the womb:

• Be sure to eat well and minimize stress.
• Take a prenatal vitamin daily, even before you get pregnant, to ensure you're getting enough folic acid (folate). Taking folic acid early prevents certain brain and spinal cord defects, including spina bifida.
• Get at least 1.4 milligrams of omega-3 fatty acids every day. These essential fatty acids are in fish, walnuts, canola oil, flaxseed, and dark leafy green vegetables such as kale.

First Trimester

At week 4, the embryo is made up of three layers, the ectoderm (top layer), the mesoderm (middle layer), and the endoderm (the inner layer). The ectoderm will become the neural tube, where your baby's brain, spinal cord, nerves, and backbone will develop. In the first trimester, your baby's forehead bulges with her developing brain, but this is temporary.

The first brain cells (the neurons) are already forming. Your baby's brain will produce more than 100 billion neurons over the course of your pregnancy.

By week 7, these areas divide again into the major portions of the central nervous system. Nerve cells are branching out to connect with one another, forming primitive neural pathways. Your baby's synapses are firing away.

Second Trimester

By week 14, brain impulses are exercising your baby's facial muscles. She can squint, frown, and open her mouth. Sensory development starts to take off as the brain forms specialized areas for taste, smell, hearing, vision, and touch. Your baby will start to hear and may even be startled by loud noises outside the womb. She'll start to experiment with touch by feeling her face or touching anything else within reach.

Third Trimester

Your baby's brain continues to grow more complex during this trimester. Neurons and synapses are rapidly developing. Every day it gets better at managing vital processes like breathing, digesting, and regulating the heart rate.

Make sure you're getting enough of those omega-3 fatty acids and protein this trimester to support the brain's big growth spurt as your baby continues to form neurological pathways -- the building blocks for learning.