Baby’s kicks in the womb can equal ‘twice the force’ of hitting a tennis ball

If your baby was particularly active during pregnancy, this might not feel like news to you.

A  study at Imperial College London has found that by 30 weeks into gestation, a baby's kicks can reach 10 and a half pounds of force. The 10.5 pounds of force is equal to twice the force needed to hit a tennis ball at 100 mph, reports The Sun. The force of the baby's strength peaks at thirty weeks when it comes to kicking, while a mother usually begins to feel the first kicks at anywhere between 16 and 20 weeks, the study says. The researchers used MRI machines to scan women at 20, 25, 30 and 35 weeks into pregnancy and monitor the babies' kicking and movement in the uterus. They also looked at how kicks affected the babies' bones. They observed that a baby's kick can reach 6.5 pounds at 20 weeks. The strength of the kick reduces to 3.8 pounds by week 38 as the baby has less room to kick. This study is the first of its kind. It's important because a baby's kicks in the womb can tell a lot about its development. The stress of hard kicks can help to reinforce bones and boost skeletal development. The research was published in the Journal of the Royal Society of Interface.