Your baby, even when in the womb, has preferences. A new study published in PLOS One found that fetuses move and respond more when their mothers touch their own stomachs than when they talk to the babies from outside the womb.
A Smarter Baby
There are mothers dreams of having the most intelligent, successful and perfect baby that ever lived – and if you’re that type then you might want to try a few tricks. Women who touched their stomach/fetus during pregnancy showed “more arm, head, and mouth movements than when the women did nothing or when they spoke to the baby. Although it is speculative to suggest, it might well be that the increases in arm movements in response to maternal touch are also directed responses towards the source of the stimulation.”
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The Research
23 healthy pregnant were taken into a dark room and had their fetus’ movement tracked after half were instructed to rub their belly’s, while the others to speak to their baby. Rubbing the belly had the most fetus response.
Bedtime Stories
Studies also show that language skills will develop much quicker if parents speak or read to the baby…
Developmental Skills
Reading to the womb develops “the auditory fitness necessary to shape the brain for hearing and language development.” “It’s never too early to start reading and talking to your baby,” Dr. Rebekka Levis says. “We definitely know that babies can hear their mothers and recognize their voice while in utero.”
Parent Interaction
“It’s really the interaction that motivates the child,” pediatrician Anatoly Belilovsky said. “The main message for new moms is that their babies are listening and learning and remembering during the last stages of pregnancy. Their brains do not wait for birth to start absorbing information.”