Overview

• Researchers recorded third‑trimester fetal activity in 51 participants using a fetal actocardiograph that detects movements mothers may not perceive.
• Higher activity correlated with greater maternal‑fetal attachment on the Prenatal Attachment Inventory‑Revised.
• The association held after accounting for maternal mood, gestational age, parity, and knowledge of fetal sex.
• Authors emphasize the study is correlational with a modest sample and propose attentive engagement with movements as a simple, non‑invasive practice pending larger studies.
• The peer‑reviewed article was published in Early Human Development (DOI: 10.1016/j.earlhumdev.2025.106351) by investigators from Yale, Yale New Haven Hospitall CornWeill Cornell with Bial Foundation support.