Do babies cry in the womb?

If by, "a baby crying in the womb" you mean making baby crying sounds then the answer is no. But if you mean do their vocal cords have the capability of making crying sounds, the answer is yes. The following are my reasons for giving such a yes/no answer.

A baby in the womb is totally immersed in fluid called amniotic fluid. During development of the fetus it swallows and "breathes" this fluid. Remember, while the baby is in the womb there is no air with which to make crying sounds. Only after a baby is born can its lungs become fully expanded to take in air. Which gets us to the next point.

To create sounds with our vocal cords needs air to move from the lungs through the windpipe past the vocal cords and to the outside air. Even when you make vocal sounds underwater, the sound is made by pushing out air in your lungs through your vocal cords. However, since an unborn baby does not have air in its lungs it cannot make such sounds. Therefore, in the sense of making the usual crying sounds we associate with a bay, while it is in the womb an unborn baby cannot make them.

No doubt, just before it is born a baby tries to make crying sounds. But recall that it is surrounded by amniotic fluid and there is no air in the womb. So until a baby is born and breathes its first lung full of air, it is not likely to make vocal sounds.

Posted by: Frederick Sweet, Ph.D. Ob-Gyn, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis MO