Listening and Hearing - The Fetal Senses

by Unknown 23:06 0 comments benefits of prenatal music music for unborn baby brain development playing unborn baby music pregnancy music for unborn baby prenatal learning with music prenatal music therapy

The fetus lives in a stimulating matrix of sound, vibration, and motion. Many studies now confirm that voices reach the womb. A mother's voice is particularly powerful because it is transmitted to the womb through her own body reaching the fetus in a stronger form than outside sounds. Some musical sounds can cause changes in metabolism. "Brahm's Lullabye," for example, played six times a day for five minutes in a premature baby nursery produced faster weight gain than voice sounds played on the same schedule. Researchers in Belfast have demonstrated that reactive listening begins at 16 weeks g.a. This is especially significant because reactive listening begins eight weeks before the ear is structurally complete at about 24 weeks. These findings indicate the complexity of hearing, lending support to the idea that receptive hearing begins with the skin and skeletal framework, skin being a multireceptor organ integrating input from vibrations, thermo receptors, and pain receptors. This primal listening system is then amplified with vestibular and cochlear information as it becomes available.

At 16 weeks the unborn baby is particularly receptive to its mother’s voice. This is because the vibrations that travel through her body to the womb are stronger than noises coming from outside the womb. At 20 – 24 weeks, the unborn baby can recognize the deeper tones of its father's voice.

Around 24 weeks

Babies develop preferences for music while in the womb. Fridman (2000)[3] found that the babies’ heart rates increased and that they moved around in rhythm to the music. Once born, the infant responds more to certain music.

From 24 weeks

Unborn babies respond to the rhythm of being read to. They will move about and kick. Studies by DeCasper and Fifer (1980)[7] and Kolata (1984)[8] found that infants who were read 'A Cat in a Hat' twice a day 6.5 weeks before birth would suck more if they heard 'A Cat in a Hat' read by their mother rather than an unfamiliar children’s poem 'The King, the Mice, and the Cheese', also read by the infants’ mothers.

The parents of the unborn child can stimulate their infant and develop early communication skills by introducing their child to music and reading right from the start. The development of listening before birth is vital to the progression of listening and attention skills after birth.

The uterus isn't exactly the quietest place to hang out. Not only can a baby hear the sounds of his mom's body—her stomach growling, her heart beating, the occasional hiccup or burp—but he can also hear noises from beyond.