The purpose of this cross-cultural study is to examine the relationship between fetal movement and habituation and postnatal measures of behavior and cognition in a sample of African-American (n=60), Caucasian-American (n=60), and Hong Kong based Chinese (n=60) subjects. Term fetuses will undergo fetal movement monitoring and a fetal habituation to vibrotactile stimulation manipulation at 32-36 weeks gestational age. Measures of fetal movement and habituation will then be compared to postnatal outcome, performance on the Neonatal Adaptive Capacity Scale, the Brazelton Neonatal Behavior Assessment Scale, the Bayley Scale of Infant Development, and the Delayed Response Task. The specific goals of this study include: (1) to determine if prenatal risk factors are related to fetal movement and habituation, (2) to determine if fetal movement and habituation are related to anthropomorphic and neurobehavioral outcome at birth, (3) to determine if fetal movement is predictive of rate of fetal habituation, (4) to determine if measures of fetal movement and habituation are predictive of neuro- behavioral and neuro-cognitive capabilities soon after birth as well as at 8 months of age, and (5) to explore ethnic differences in patterns of fetal movement and habituation.
