How Talking And Singing Can Affect Your Future Baby

Indeed, your baby will benefit a lot from the sound of your voice. It is because the baby finds sounds to be calming while in the womb and at birth.

A certain study reveals that unborn babies have a tendency to respond to sounds and vibrations as heir movement patterns and heart rates change. Basically, it is because the baby is responsive to the mother’s voice.(1)

By inference, an unborn baby has the abilities of recognition and remembrance. Depending on the conversations you have with your baby, especially in the third trimester, you are gradually laying the building blocks of future child’s:

• Social skills
• Emotional skills
• Language skills
• Memory retention

In one sentence, you are gradually influencing their ability to understanding. Even though these conversations may foster the relationship between you and your child, it takes about 20 weeks for their ears to reach full development.

It is because their auditory system stays disconnected from the brain until the 21st week. Also, research mentions that babies are reactive to sound vibrations around the 24th week and it takes between 26 and 30 weeks for the baby to respond to external noise.

Bonding With The Baby

As a mother, your sound has the ability to calm your unborn child. According to one study, fetuses slow down their movements in response to the voices of their mothers.

In another study, there was a decrease in the heart rates of the fetus and newborn as soon as their mothers spoke.(2)This reaction has been said to be a method of relaxation.

If you seek to build a good relationship with an unborn child, talking and singing may be possible means to get this done. Not only does it offer futuristic benefits to the unborn child, but it also helps you. Certainly, your baby learns when you bond with your bump.

In case you are uncomfortable with the idea of conversing with your baby, there is another solution. For every moment you speak to someone else, your baby hears and feels some vibrations.

Hence, they will get used to being comforted by your voice whenever they recognize it even though you are speaking to someone else. With this form of recognition, the baby bonds with you. For several years to come, your baby will feel a sense of emotional security.

Father And Child Bonding

In dad’s case, their bonding will require more effort to help the baby hear them.

By talking to the bump, your baby may recognition its father’s voice before birth.  Studying preterm babies – a class of babies with similar hearing development as the fetus in further pregnancy stages – showed that this class of babies is less attentive to high pitched sounds than low pitched sounds.(3)

Since babies have the abilities of remembrance and recognition of several voices, they can also filter through voices to recognize the voice of their fathers. Hence, a father can build a relationship with the children as well.

As a mother, you should encourage your partner to converse with the bump about each day’s activities, interests, and hobbies. That way, the father feels a sense of participation in the pregnancy phases.

Regardless of the fact that these babies may not comprehend everything that is said, it is great to know that the third trimester presents great prospects for listening and understanding the family history and background.

Bonding Steps

The development of the baby’s immune system is susceptible to negative impacts by high levels of stress.(4) Therefore, you can deter or reduce this by spending quality time to talk or sing to the bump as a relaxation technique.

There are several methods to facilitate this process. Whenever you are stuck, you may read a magazine or a newspaper. Also, nursery rhymes or children’s books are great alternatives. To make things more interesting, personalizing a story illustration or writing of a renowned author can help.

Generally, parents-to-be must endeavor to store a recording of a favorite TV show or music while pregnant. Before the baby’s arrival, you may make the recording into a tape, a CD, or mp3. It is because there may be times when you do feel the need to sing, these tools will be valuable as a ‘soothing emergency’. Other songs may be classical music and lullabies.

Always observe the reactions of your baby to your actions. And if you notice less movement in the womb, it may be due to your calming words.

You may also seek help from your family members as well. If the baby must hear them, they must lean close to the bump enough to be heard. However, the comfort of both parties is very important.

Pre-birth: Singing and Hearing of The Baby

When you are pregnant, try to cultivate a habit of singing. The reason is that it presents immense benefits for you and your baby. Many studies have highlighted the immense benefits that singing purports for health. Interestingly, a few benefits of singing in pregnancy can:

• Reduce pains
• Increase the levels of oxygen
• Give a relaxing ‘sound massage’ to the unborn baby

Due to the influence of technology, some companies specifically market some special earphone music systems to foster communication between the baby and the mother by way of improving the transmission of language, music, or any form of sound between them.

Luckily, you do not have to spend so much money on acquiring these types of equipment since most of them are not safe for use. Without the need for more amplification, your baby can process voice vibrations from you.

Whenever you make certain vibrations, your baby feels and translates it. Due to the surrounding amniotic fluid which also conducts sound vibrations, a baby can process sounds.

You may also try to imagine a moment in your life when you were underwater – a swimming pool, a bath, or the ocean – you must have heard people speaking or yelling above water.

A number of scientific studies investigated the mechanism of response from the baby. Generally, babies can respond to sounds between the 18th and 20th week.(5) These weeks mark the phase during which the baby’s ear structures reach complete development while waiting for the auditory nerves to develop.

One study also says that the 18th week of pregnancy is the average period during which some babies listen to loud low-pitched sounds. Although some babies are irresponsive to high-pitched tones, others can respond to low-pitched sounds in the 27th week. As the baby matures, the hearing of the baby continues to develop and mature.

In one of Giselle E. Whitwell’s articles of prenatal hearing and sound, music and other forms of sound can affect early child development such as the development of speech and movement.

Furthermore, babies may also listen and learn the memorization of sounds and songs in the 23rd week of gestation. Hence, you should be mindful of your words and speech since the baby is predisposed to the interpretation of thoughts.

More so, your unborn baby also has a tendency to remember flavors and tastes since the flavor of the amniotic fluid surrounding the baby changes with pregnancy diet.

The benefits of prenatal singing for the baby

The early stage of pregnancy is significant in the development of the hearing of the baby to perceive external sounds. Throughout your pregnancy, your child will hear sounds such as:

• Spoken words
• Gurgling intestines
• Heartbeats

Therefore, you should expect your baby to recognize your voice at birth before others – especially everyone who has been around you during pregnancy. Sometimes, some babies may also recognize the barking or howls of a barking dog or any family pet during the pregnancy.

Suffice it to say that you must be watchful of the type of music or sounds your listen to during pregnancy. If your baby likes a sound, he or she relaxes as a form of submission.

Otherwise, the baby starts to kick whenever you put on a form of music or sound. Be mindful of when you try to appease your baby to no avail, singing or talking may be therapeutic.

Some benefits of singing while pregnant include:

• Fostering of mother and child connection
• Calming and relaxing the baby
• Renders a form of ‘sound massage’ to the baby
• Increase in the flow of oxygen to the baby
• Transfer of endorphins through the placenta
• Development of speech
• Reduction or prevention of minor infections – a protective shield against the baby

Benefits for the mother when she sings in pregnancy

So many research topics focus on the benefits of singing. Fortunately, these benefits are even more when you are pregnant. According to the Chairman of Music Education, the University of London – Graham Welch – the major benefits of singing in expectant mothers are:

• Improvement of the mood of the mother
• Increase in the endorphin levels, thereby raising the energy level of the mother
• Reduction of stress and tension
• Improvement of sleep patterns
• Relief of pains due to rising endorphins
• Improvement of posture
• Immunity-boosting benefits
• Increase in the capacity of the lungs – thereby increasing the oxygen level
• Clearing the respirator tubes and sinuses
• Increase in confidence
• Improvement of concentration and memory capacity
• Toning of abdominal and facial muscles

Another reason why you should ease into the habit of singing when you are pregnant is that it helps to deal with prenatal depression. Therefore, you must cultivate the habit of singing if you have ever suffered from prenatal depression in previous pregnancies. Joining a prenatal singing class or choir is great.

Talking During Pregnancy

Do you know the best part of being pregnant? No, you don’t but we will tell you. Did you know that pregnancy, while giving you ample time to foster the connection with your baby, allows you time to prepare for unforeseen postnatal challenges?

Most times, many pregnant women forget this fact in their rush to complete routines. But let your protruding belly serve as a healthy reminder that you need to get your acts together. For this reason, experts have suggested that talking to the bump is absolutely important.

Here are a few reasons why you should cultivate the habit of conversing with your bump.

• Stimulation of the auditory nerves

As early as 14 weeks, the auditory senses of the baby start to take shape. And a further 14 weeks into the second trimester, this process continues. This is the reason that experts and doctors encourage expectant mothers to foster bonds with the unborn child.

More so, baby chat also builds synapses and auditory stimulation of the child in preparation for his or her hearing. Also, mothers may also sing lullabies and songs for the same purpose.

• Speech development

In addition, talking to newborns facilitates a rapid understanding of words and language with the development of social skills. The best part is that baby’s retention faculty kicks in at birth if you had already cultivated a good relationship by talking to the bump.

In a short timeframe, the brain of your baby recalls and remembers your dialect which also speeds up his or her speech process.

• Promoting a sense of security

At the moment, you are securing your baby’s future by eating healthy foods, resting as often as possible, and exercising. But you have forgotten that a womb is a lonely place as much as it is a safe haven for your baby.

Therefore, you must learn to build a sense of security for the baby by communicating. Your baby feels safe and secure in the womb whenever you speak soothing words.

• Stimulation of the brain

Both the mother and father must give a lot of attention to the baby. Your baby is able to distinguish the mother’s sound from the father’s at a very early stage. Usually, mothers have low pitched tones while fathers are high-pitched.

As soon as the baby is able to differentiate between these two tones, both the five essential senses and the brain start to develop.

How talking to the bump will help you as a parent

• Development of parental skills

There is no manual about parenting. You develop your parent skill as soon as you conceive. But the best place to initiate parental instincts is to talk to the bump. Most people have these instincts but you can put things into perspective by talking.

Talking also helps you settle in the mode of introspection. Also, bump time also help you to figure out bad habits such as lack of rest or an unhealthy diet during pregnancy.

• Tracking the wellness of the baby in the womb

You can follow up the wellbeing of your baby by talking. Your baby may either express sleepiness or stress from your chats. If you think your baby is stressed, stroke the bump gently and repeatedly.

• Understanding individual responsibilities

Pregnancy and labor are two stages that are shared between mothers, fathers alike. But most fathers do not understand this point. You can help him settle into the act by talking to the bump. Without a doubt, this process helps fathers relinquish their fears.

Each person will also understand that they have defined roles during childbirth and labor.

A Word From Us

If you can’t sing, all hope is not lost

Many people make the mistake that they can neither sing nor process tones. But this thought pattern can be modified. Like our physical bodies, we can exercise our larynx (voice box) and vocal cords. Our voices become better when we sing and express our voice.

Whenever you shower, drive, walk, or take a stroll in the park, try to sing. This will ease you into singing even when other people are around. One of the best gifts you can give to your unborn child includes singing in pregnancy. The immense benefits of this step are futuristic.

Classes you may attend when pregnant

Check for special classes around you where they offer prenatal singing. Most or all of these classes would make provision for the following:

• Overtone chanting
• Relaxation and deep breathing exercises
• Traditional pregnancy exercises
• Simple chants or vocal exercises
• Group improvisation
• Lullabies and songs across different countries

If you do not have enough confidence, an easy way to start is to sing the vowels A, E, I, O, U and keeping yelling till you exceed your elastic limit – aaaaaaaaa, eeeeeeeeee, ooooooooooooooo, uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu. You can also play around with each sound for as long as you can. Throw in some nursery rhymes and lullabies as well.

Singing in pregnancy is both relaxing and fun. To prepare for the arrival of your baby, you must learn to sing and re-learn childhood rhymes.

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