# Can you see a fetus' foot from the outside while still in the womb? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 2, 2005, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-see-a-fetus-foot-from-the-outside-while-still-in-the-womb/282727 "2005-01-02T19:30:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2005, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-see-a-fetus-foot-from-the-outside-while-still-in-the-womb/282727/1 "2005-01-02T19:30:56Z")
I got an email with some cool pictures, and one of them is a picture of a huge pregnant belly, with a little foot clearly outlined. (I couldn’t find a picture to link to - I’m hoping some of you have received the same email and know what I’m talking about.) My question is - can you really see the fetus’ foot that clearly outlined? It looks like the mother’s belly is just a sheet of plastic or something, it’s so clear. I thought that between the mother’s abdominal muscles and fat and the uterus and placenta and all, you wouldn’t get such a clear outline of what’s inside. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2005, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-see-a-fetus-foot-from-the-outside-while-still-in-the-womb/282727/2 "2005-01-02T19:42:08Z")
[Snopes says _undetermined_](http://www.snopes.com/photos/arts/footprint.asp). I tend to agree with you. There’s a lot in between the fetus and the outside of the belly, otherwise the unborn child could be hurt just by the mother bumping into a chair. I’d say the photo is fake. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2005, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-see-a-fetus-foot-from-the-outside-while-still-in-the-womb/282727/3 "2005-01-02T19:47:35Z")
Previous thread about the pic > **[Is this "fetal footprint on its mother's abdomen" pic possible? (attn: docs)](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=275679)** > > As of my writing of this OP, Snopes considers this ‘undetermined’. My question is whether or not this even medically possible. My first thought was that the uterus wall would prevent this level of “detail” on the imprint from being possible, but I... ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2005, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-see-a-fetus-foot-from-the-outside-while-still-in-the-womb/282727/4 "2005-01-02T19:50:31Z")
Now that I think about it (thanks for the link, by the way), any caesarian surgery I’ve seen on TV has involved a lot of sawing away at a whole bunch of tissue to get at the baby. If the baby was right up there like that, the mother could give herself a caesarian with her nail scissors (not recommending it or anything, just saying.) ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2005, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-see-a-fetus-foot-from-the-outside-while-still-in-the-womb/282727/5 "2005-01-02T19:54:51Z")
And thanks for the link, **Revtim** , too. Pretty much most likely a fake, but not 100% yet. ---
**Author:** ![ParentalAdvisory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/53a042/32.png) [@ParentalAdvisory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParentalAdvisory)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2005, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-see-a-fetus-foot-from-the-outside-while-still-in-the-womb/282727/6 "2005-01-02T22:48:25Z")
It must be a fake. The lining between the womb and the skin would have to be pretty thin to make out the almost perfect clarity of that foot. If anything, there would be a bump, not a detailed imprint of a foot! ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2005, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-see-a-fetus-foot-from-the-outside-while-still-in-the-womb/282727/7 "2005-01-02T23:12:22Z")
Yeah, cute pic, but I have grave doubts. My mom used to grab my ankle when I was in utero, though. She says I’d scrape it along her belly and she’d see a little triangular bump, protuding enough to grab. She’d grab it and shake it, and I’d yank it back in. Come to think of it, I hate having my feet touched now! But she only knew it was my ankle because she knew how to tell which bump was my head and which my butt, and traced the rest from there. WhyKid used to love the shower spray. I’d stand in front of it so it sprayed on my belly, and turn to the left, and watch as my belly oozed to the right to stay under the spray. Then I’d turn to the right and my belly went to the left! Kinda freaky, actually. But we’d play like that every night. ---
**Author:** ![Hedda\_Rosa](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hedda_rosa/32/1204_2.png) [@Hedda\_Rosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hedda_Rosa)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2005, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-see-a-fetus-foot-from-the-outside-while-still-in-the-womb/282727/8 "2005-01-03T01:53:54Z")
Speaking as someone who is 8 months pregnant right now I can say that it certainly **feels** as if my belly is stretched that tight - but there is skin, fat muscle and amniotic sac to get through beforey ou reach baby. No way would the foot show that clearly. Twiddle ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2005, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-see-a-fetus-foot-from-the-outside-while-still-in-the-womb/282727/9 "2005-01-03T04:23:35Z")
I would have to say that, by definition, you can’t see the foot of a fetus from the outside while you’re still in the womb. I’m not even sure you can see it from the inside, it’s pretty dark in there ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2005, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-see-a-fetus-foot-from-the-outside-while-still-in-the-womb/282727/10 "2005-01-03T04:26:23Z")
> [@AHunter3](#): > > I would have to say that, by definition, you can’t see the foot of a fetus from the outside while you’re still in the womb. > > I’m not even sure you can see it from the inside, it’s pretty dark in there I was going to post that hours ago. I’m glad someone finally said it. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2005, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-see-a-fetus-foot-from-the-outside-while-still-in-the-womb/282727/11 "2005-01-03T04:28:33Z")
Har Har. I’ve spent a great deal of time examining one woman’s belly when she was VERY pregnant twice now. You can clearly see movement and protruberances and such. But clearly outlined body parts? No. But you can screw with the kids in utero. Something pokes out…you poke it. It dances away! Endless fun. ---
**Author:** ![Syntropy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/65b543/32.png) [@Syntropy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Syntropy)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2005, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-see-a-fetus-foot-from-the-outside-while-still-in-the-womb/282727/12 "2005-01-03T04:33:30Z")
What he said. My ex loved to play that game with my son before he was born. Stephen would poke (looked more like an elbow than a foot or hand). Mike would poke back. For about a half hour til I got bored with it and said “Enough!” Of course, Stephen was unaware that mom had spoken and kept poking for quite a while after Mike had stopped. Very annoying. Something that was interesting to watch: in my last month of pregnancy the boy child would move and drag a hand/foot across the length of my belly. Felt weird, looked weirder. ---
**Author:** ![LifeOnWry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/96bed5/32.png) [@LifeOnWry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LifeOnWry)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2005, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-see-a-fetus-foot-from-the-outside-while-still-in-the-womb/282727/13 "2005-01-03T04:51:33Z")
I remember in pregnancy lying on the sofa with my shirt up and watching my belly move. The cat liked that too. One evening, a little “triangular bit” came up, up, up, and then… I swear the kid stuck her foot between my ribcage and my skin. Not only did it feel that way, it LOOKED that way too! ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2005, 10:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-see-a-fetus-foot-from-the-outside-while-still-in-the-womb/282727/14 "2005-01-03T10:17:00Z")
I’d say the pic was almost certainly Photoshopped. I’ve been kicked in the head a number of times by an exuberant foetus - come to think of it, now I get kicked in the head by an exuberant toddler - and while a pointy lump {to use the correct medical term} is definitely visible, there’s no way you can see toes. Mind you, given recent developments Little Case’s toes may well have been up his nose. Both feet. Simultaneously. How do you admonish a nearly-three year old for doing something so disgusting while struggling not to have hysterics and secretly wishing you could do the same thing yourself? This is something parental guidebooks fail to touch on. ---
**Author:** ![Vlad\_Igor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/7feea3/32.png) [@Vlad\_Igor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vlad_Igor)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2005, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-see-a-fetus-foot-from-the-outside-while-still-in-the-womb/282727/15 "2005-01-03T14:00:09Z")
> [@Jonathan Chance](#): > > But you can screw with the kids in utero. Something pokes out…you poke it. It dances away! > Endless fun. I woke **Kiminy** up one morning when she was pregnant with Igorette 14 years ago. Something would stick out, I’d poke at it, it would then disappear then reappear somewhere else a moment later. Vlad/Igor ---
**Author:** ![Boopsie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b5a626/32.png) [@Boopsie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boopsie)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2005, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-see-a-fetus-foot-from-the-outside-while-still-in-the-womb/282727/16 "2005-01-03T16:14:58Z")
Completely off-topic, but I have a HORRIBLE (or terrific, depending on which way you look at it) case of baby fever at the moment, and this thread is NOT helping. haha I can’t wait to be pregnant!!! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![The\_Mermaid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a183cd/32.png) [@The\_Mermaid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Mermaid)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2005, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-see-a-fetus-foot-from-the-outside-while-still-in-the-womb/282727/17 "2005-01-03T19:26:57Z")
I have two children and about a dozen or so nephews & nieces so it’s safe to say I’ve been around a lot of pregnant women and their bellies. The skin does get stretched pretty thin in places and you can definitely see a lump when baby pushes with his feet or head but I just don’t think you’d be able to make out all the little toes because of the amniotic fluid if nothing else. Cute pic though. ---
**Author:** ![DeVena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dec6dc/32.png) [@DeVena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeVena)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2005, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-see-a-fetus-foot-from-the-outside-while-still-in-the-womb/282727/18 "2005-01-03T22:19:51Z")
Ages ago, when I was in the 5th grade, my science teacher was pregnant. Really pregnant. “Great with child” even. So one day, there we sat, studying the differences between salt and sugar crystals. And every few minutes, Mrs Fielding would get up, leave the room, be outside about 10 seconds, then come back in and sit down. After about 6 times, she told us, “I’m just too tired to go outside again.” She told us that the baby kept sticking its foot between her ribs and she would have to gently push it back in. We laughed and she told us to look. She was wearing a huge beige shirt and pulled it taut across her side and you could very clearly see an egg wiggling against her stomach. She put her hand under her shirt and then the egg was gone. But no she wouldn’t let us touch it and didn’t point out when it happened again. Coolest thing we’d ever seen.