The food that you eat does not go straight to the baby as it must first pass through your body and provide you with nutrients.
The food you eat does also provide the baby with nutrients, but the food you eat, first works with your body to keep you alive and provide you as the mother with energy and nutrients.
When you're pregnant and eat food, your body first digests and breaks down the food you eat into nutrients like amino acids, glucose, fats etc that enter your bloodstream.
Then these nutrients that come from the broken down food, are passed through the placenta and umbilical cord to your baby, which is a process that can take hours to occur.
The placenta is what filters your blood and transfers the required oxygen and required nutrients to your baby, while also removing any waste.
Your baby also relies on your current intake of food and the nutritional stores of your body, which is why eating healthy and consuming a healthy diet is crucial when you're pregnant.
By 13 weeks to 15 weeks, your baby swallows the amniotic fluid, which can carry flavors from the food that you eat, which helps the baby experience tastes inside the womb.
And while the nutrients break down, any substances like medications or substances can cross the placenta and also enter your baby's circulation quite rapidly.
So in essence, your body when you eat food during pregnancy acts as a processor, which turns the food you eat into blood borne nutrients which the placenta then filters to your baby.
Food flavors and nutrients typically reach your baby through amniotic fluid or breast milk within 1 to 6 hours after eating, though some substances can appear in as little as 30-90 minutes.
In pregnancy, the food flavors reach the fluid in about 45 minutes, while for breast milk, the peak time for food components to pass is roughly 4-6 hours.
Flavors from your diet as a mother, enter the amniotic fluid and are then swallowed by the fetus.
Babies also may react to strong flavors like sugar or garlic for example, within minutes to an hour.
And food sensitivities like dairy can also appear in breast milk within 1 hour to 2 hours, with some potential to cause reactions for up to 24 hours.
Sugary foods or drinks often also cause an immediate "often within minutes" increase in blood sugar and baby activity.