First of all, at fetal stage the so called fetus is physically nothing more than an extra organ to a mother with phenomenal speed of development in space and time which is integrated with fabric of consciousness of mother. The process of separation from the womb is gaining of self consciousness by a previous fetus into a newborn child who apparently has duplicated in every sense from the mother so has to duplicate consciousness as well. But one need to understand the transaction of consciousness from baby to mother and mother to baby is intricate. For a mother it brings heightened levels of consciousness when baby is inside the womb which is an ultimate effort of any life experiencing fundamental consciousness. For a fetus inside the womb this is bidirectional- heightened levels of consciousness is delivered to mother by a fetus during gestation and same is duplicated when baby is separated from mother. Eventually when umbilical cord is cut the process of self consciousness begins due to experiencing life beyond life and sense of embodiment comes into picture. The so called duplicated consciousness is disproportionate to energy-mass equilibrium of a child hence it is weaned off over next few months to years when child starts investing it into speech, locomotor and social development. So as far as your question is concerned fetus is a reductionist perspective of mass-energy equilibrium where consciousness touches its huge and pure form.

The definition of consciousness and level of sentience is needed to determine the rights associated with development of an unborn human being or the fetus. It can be argued that  animals and human babies have a level of consciousness and sentience.  Hence, the fetus stage would also have consciousness and the question for society of the future is that if a certain level of consciousness gives the fetus rights to be seen as a human being . the qualita is central aspect of consciousness and does not necessarily rely on intelligence or sensory development. Qualia is something that experiences the senses with awareness.  there is dualism since this is the mind and body problem, for now we can bluntly say that consciousness is software which does  not duplicate from the mother.  it is not a duplicate as child has a number of psychological  properties and social qualities that are absent in parents. 

I cannot answer your question without wild speculation but the article below may be of interest for an answer to your question:

Bjorn Merker (2007). Consciousness without a cerebral cortex: A challenge for neuroscience and medicine.

Journal: Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 2007. (Look the issue up; there are several interesting comments on this lead-artcle.

In 2012 I suddenly developed a syndrome known as Mal de Debarquement (“difficulty disembarking”, or land sickness). In normal waking consciousness, when on the ground, I am spatially disoriented, with no accurate sense of verticality, and am prone to high anxiety. The symptoms abate when I am in a moving vehicle, watching tv, sleeping. My EEG shows a preponderance of theta and delta waves (that is, slow waves). The doctors have no explanations or treatments. I suggest that I have been thrown back into prenatal consciousness. I don’t know of any attempts to study the consciousness of people with my syndrome.

I also wonder what the changes in consciousness are that occur at birth and what elements cause those shifts.

Roshan Sutar any references to back up your statements?