Talk and sing to your baby, knowing he or she can hear you. Gently touch and rub your belly, or massage it. Respond to your baby's kicks. In the last trimester, you can gently push against the baby or rub your belly where the kick occurred and see if there is a response.
It can also help with speech and language development. While hearing voices in utero, the baby can start to understand and remember words. They sometimes can even tell the difference between other languages. Talking to your baby belly can have benefits for the parents, too.
Around 14 weeks into the pregnancy the baby develops audio receptors and is able to hear you and others from inside the womb. It is a common practice where moms put headphones over the tummy so that the baby can hear music but it has been proved that hearing the mother's voice can be way more beneficial for the child.
Sensory and brain mechanisms for hearing are developed at 30 weeks of gestational age, and the new study shows that unborn babies are listening to their mothers talk during the last 10 weeks of pregnancy and at birth can demonstrate what they've heard.
Your baby will hear sounds inside your body, like your heartbeat, between 16 and 22 weeks of pregnancy. And after 23 weeks, your little one will be able to make out your voice, your partner's voice, and other sounds from outside your womb.
You and Your Baby's Emotional Connection
Research has shown that, during pregnancy, your baby feels what you feel—and with the same intensity. That means if you're crying, your baby feels the same emotion, as if it's their own.
Sensation. After around 18 weeks, babies like to sleep in the womb while their mother is awake, since movement can rock them to sleep. They can feel pain at 22 weeks, and at 26 weeks they can move in response to a hand being rubbed on the mother's belly.
4 months into your pregnancy, your baby will also feel it when you stroke the skin of your tummy: rub your hand against your stomach, gently push and stroke it… and soon your baby will start responding with little kicks, or by curling up into your palm!
Research shows that unborn babies can recognize their mother's (and possibly their father's) voice starting at 32 weeks.
Babies in the womb will respond to interaction from its mother, including conversation and touching, a University of Dundee study has found.
Babies recognise familiar voices and music they heard in the womb, and are soothed by them after birth. They're also soothed by rocking and noises like car engines, which may remind them of the movement and sounds of your body.
According to Carista Luminare-Rosen, PhD, author of Parenting Begins Before Conception: A Guide to Preparing Body, Mind, and Spirit for You and Your Future Child, research shows that babies in the womb have the emotional and intuitive capabilities to sense their parents' love.
When the father touches the mother's belly, the baby may become awake. Babies can detect touch from anybody, but they can also detect familiar touch (and speech). And around 24 weeks, dad should be able to feel the baby kick – but the exact time depends.
Many physicians advise pregnant women to sleep on their left side. Previous studies have linked back and right-side sleeping with a higher risk of stillbirth, reduced fetal growth, low birth weight, and preeclampsia, a life-threatening high blood pressure disorder that affects the mother.
At around 18 weeks of pregnancy, your unborn baby will start being able to hear sounds in your body like your heartbeat. At 27 to 29 weeks (6 to 7 months), they can hear some sounds outside your body too, like your voice. By the time they are full term, they will be able to hear at about the same level as an adult.
There's no evidence that it can cause any harm as long as you use soft, gentle movements. Even so, you may want to avoid it for the first three months, just to be on the safe side. Massaging your bump in the first trimester may also make morning sickness worse.
Sleeping on your side helps keep your baby safe. Research has shown that sleeping on your side, especially in the third trimester (weeks 27 to 40), helps to prevent stillbirth. Don't worry if you wake up on your back. But it's important to fall asleep on your side.
Depending on your stage of pregnancy, your body type, and even the time of day, sometimes your belly will feel soft and other times it will feel tight and hard. The reality is, there's no normal to compare yourself with. Pregnant bellies come in all shapes, sizes, and firmness.
Five of the women who had described increased fetal movement with hunger (26.3%) described a notable period of quieting following a meal which they interpreted as their baby being sated and content. The remaining two described a continuation of the increased activity after eating that had been noted with hunger.
This may lead to the question of: Is my baby hungry when I'm hungry during pregnancy? No, your baby is not hungry when you are during pregnancy. An unborn baby receives a constant flow of nutrients.
Some babies will be lulled to sleep by you rushing around, whereas others will do summersaults in response to the hormones. So, the key is knowing your baby's reactions to your usual routine and in turn their unique patterns. The only general rule is sometimes the baby will be active and sometimes they will be resting!
Can crying and depression affect an unborn baby? Having an occasional crying spell isn't likely to harm your unborn baby. More severe depression during pregnancy, however, could possibly have a negative impact on your pregnancy.
Even when the baby is in the womb, it starts to recognize the mother's mood, voice, laughter, etc. The baby also learns to distinctly recognize mother's laughter and your laughing and being joyful promotes a sense of calmness in the baby.