Pregnancy
Pregnancy may seem an odd place to start talking about reading, writing and speaking, but in fact as a baby develops in the womb it listens to and becomes familiar with certain sounds that it hears regularly, which form the initial steps of communication skills.
As a babies hearing develops in the womb, it becomes familiar with listening to its mother’s heart beat – the regular soothing sound that it can constantly hear in the womb. Likewise its mother’s, partners or siblings voice can have the same comforting effect on an unborn child.
The unborn child can become accustomed to other external sounds as its mother goes about her daily routine or job. A mother who spends time or works in a quiet environment may find she has a baby who prefers quieter, calmer situations and may become agitated in noisier situations. Conversely a mother who spends time in a noisier, busier work place or home may have a baby that is calmed but background sounds and constant low level noise.
Some mothers who play certain songs or music whilst they are pregnant can find that these same songs soothe their child after it is born, as they are already familiar with them.
It is thought that these sounds are muffled in the womb, but the baby finds them comforting and can actually calm the baby once it is born.
Listening is usually the initial method a baby has of learning a communication skill. Babies are born already having heard many, many sounds, voices and noises all of which start the development of their communication skills and ultimately their speaking, reading and writing.
Some mothers unconsciously talk to their unborn child; others make a determined effort to talk to their baby. Whether a mother talks to her ‘bump’ or not, it is important not to dismiss the importance of babies learning how to communicate – even whilst still in the womb.
Case Studies:
Whilst pregnant with our second child, our daughter spoke daily to her unborn sibling, close to my stomach. She told it what she was doing, said ‘goodnight’ to it when she went to bed, said ‘good bye’ as she left for nursery and ‘hello’ when she returned. Soon after her baby brother was born he was wriggling whilst lying down on the carpet, she spoke to him, he stopped moving and appeared to be listening to his sister talking and gradually turned his head to try to find her. I truly believe that he recognised her voice as a familiar one, and this was due to her talking to him before he was born.
A friend who is a hairdresser recounted the story that whilst she was pregnant with her first son she worked in a salon where hairdryers were used constantly. When her son was born to quieten him when he was crying she turned the hairdryer on and he stopped crying and calmed down.