ABSTRACT
The unborn baby is listening. Three to four months before birth, the ear is fully formed and the baby in the womb can hear (Lecanuet, 1996). Recordings made from inside the womb show that the baby hears an only slightly muffled version of everything in the mother’s external world, together with the internal sounds of the mother’s body. One of the first links between hearing before and after birth was the discovery that reproducing heartbeat sounds could soothe newly born babies. Hearing certain music and sounds, in particular the mother’s voice, during the last few weeks of pregnancy may lead the baby to recognise and prefer them after birth. Newborns are very sensitive to their mother’s voice and will recognise and turn towards it (DeCasper and Fifer, 1980). Knowing this, many suggest that it is helpful for the mother to talk reassuringly to the unborn and newly born baby.
