Medical expert of the article
New publications
Moro reflex in newborns
Last reviewed: 08.07.2025
All iLive content is medically reviewed or fact checked to ensure as much factual accuracy as possible.
We have strict sourcing guidelines and only link to reputable media sites, academic research institutions and, whenever possible, medically peer reviewed studies. Note that the numbers in parentheses ([1], [2], etc.) are clickable links to these studies.
If you feel that any of our content is inaccurate, out-of-date, or otherwise questionable, please select it and press Ctrl + Enter.
What are reflexes and why does a newborn need them? When a baby is in the womb, the conditions there are quite favorable for him. But when a child is born, he needs to somehow adapt to the conditions of the environment. And reflexes help the child with this.
A reflex is a child's response to a certain stimulus, which occurs with the involvement of neural connections of the spinal cord and brain. Therefore, assessing the adequacy of reflexes allows us to talk not only about the degree of adaptation of the child, but also about the state of his nervous system.
There are many reflexes and they all appear at a certain time and gradually fade away if they are no longer needed. For example, the swallowing reflex appears in a child immediately after birth and remains throughout life. And there are also transient ones that disappear over a certain period of time. The Moro reflex is one of these reflexes.
This reflex is related to spinal reflexes, as it is activated at the level of the spinal cord. There are two ways to check this reflex. The first is as follows: you need to take the baby under the armpits and quickly lower them down a short distance, then after a few seconds return them up. The child's normal reaction is considered to be if he spread his arms at the first stage, and brought them together at the second. Another method involves: when the child is lying on a horizontal surface on his back, you need to slap the table on both sides near his head. This should cause the appropriate reaction with two consecutive phases.
It is very important not only to assess whether there is a reflex or not, but also to pay attention to its characteristics. It is necessary to assess the strength of its expression, symmetry on both sides, how quickly it is evoked and disappears. There should be no change in the child's condition, since checking the reflex is an absolutely painless procedure. If the reflex is evoked, corresponds to the age, it is alive, symmetrical and the same on both sides, then everything is fine.
Since this is a transient reflex, it disappears. When does the Moro reflex disappear in newborns? Under normal conditions, it should completely fade away by four months. If the reflex persists or appears after six months, then one should think about a focal or systemic nervous system lesion.
[