Medically reviewed by Jonathan B. Jassey, DO Key Takeaways The Moro reflex is a startle response in babies that makes their arms extend and retract. Newborns grow out of the Moro reflex within the ...

The Moro reflex, or startle reflex, refers to an involuntary motor response that infants develop shortly after birth. This may include extending their arms and possibly moving their legs, before ...

Since the day a baby is born, his or her body is pre-programmed with survival reflexes. One of these is the Moro reflex or the startle reflex, one of the numerous primitive reflexes of a newborn baby ...

The legs and head extend while the arms jerk up and out with the palms up and thumbs flexed. Shortly afterward the arms are brought together and the hands clench into fists, and the infant cries ...