A biphasic fetal response could also serve to reconcile the observed association between higher levels of fetal motor activity and psychological distress, as described in the previous section, with the transient suppression of fetal motor activity observed in response to acute maternal state changes. Such observations suggest that women who express greater psychological lability, including indicators of distress, provide more varied—and perhaps more stimulating—intrauterine environments to the fetus with implications for the developing fetal brain.