Even before your baby is born you can do a lot to help her or him
become a smart baby ready for the real world. You can look at
the womb as a prenatal learning and fetal development
center. Studies done by researchers such
as Dr. Jean-Pierre Lecanuet has shown that when your baby is
in the womb is a critical time to begin developing personality, tastes
and even abilities. For example: eating garlic brings traces
of it into the amniotic fluid which appears to make the baby easily
accept garlic if it is later in the breast milk during feeding. So here
are a few things you can do to stimulate your baby's development in the
womb.
Although your baby isn't physically present with you at this moment,
you can still think about him now and about the time when you would
meet soon. Thinking such happy thoughts will flood your system with
endorphins and other neuro-chemicals that cause happiness. Those
chemicals can pass through the umbilical cord to your baby provide him
with a sense of comfort, love and stability.
Your baby has limited hearing, but sound carries well in water. So
talk, sing, read to your baby
Just like a baby tends to prefer her mother's heartbeat and voice, you
can also teach the baby to be used to a stimulus ( pay less attention
to it). So if there is a constant sound in your life (ex. living next
to a train) there is a good chance your baby will be used to it.
Prepare your baby for life after birth. Tell your baby about the
normal, everyday experiences you face in the world she will be born
into. Make experiences out of even littlest mundane activities in your
life. Remember, what seems ordinary to you is certainly not
ordinary for your baby!
Play music as well, even if the mozart effect turns out to be fake,
just playing music does make new connections in your baby's brain and
increased connections in the brain means more learning
abilities. Play more low pitched relaxing music because
babies tend to hear low pitched music better, so playing relaxing music
not only relaxes mom but baby as well.
And mom needs to stay relaxed, because your baby will even follow in
sync with her heart beat. So if mom is stressed the increased heart
rate and flood of cortisol in the blood stream will make the baby's
heart race and also create more cortisol. Although a little
bit of stress or elevated heart rate can be useful for building heart
muscles and getting the body used to the stress, long periods of
elevated stress is when real damage occurs. Too much cortisol can
prevent the brain from laying down a new memory, or from accessing
already existing memories.
But just as stress affects your baby, the opposite is true. A study
done at the University of Kentucky College of Medicine,
followed 156 fetuses. The ones whose mother's wanted the pregnancy, had
high self-esteem, and received plenty of support had babies with the
calmest heart rate. Where as those whose mothers felt high levels of
anxiety, got little support, and had high levels of stress hormones the
babies had much higher heart rates (which have been linked to heart
disease and diabetes). The higher stress levels have been
associated to slow fetal growth, lower birth weight, and
increased possibility of premature delivery, which have been detected
as early as the second trimester.
So take advantage of these nine months to provide the optimum
environment possible for the development of your baby. Introduce your
baby to your favorite music, dance steps, and other experiences you
enjoy.
become a smart baby ready for the real world. You can look at
the womb as a prenatal learning and fetal development
center. Studies done by researchers such
as Dr. Jean-Pierre Lecanuet has shown that when your baby is
in the womb is a critical time to begin developing personality, tastes
and even abilities. For example: eating garlic brings traces
of it into the amniotic fluid which appears to make the baby easily
accept garlic if it is later in the breast milk during feeding. So here
are a few things you can do to stimulate your baby's development in the
womb.
Although your baby isn't physically present with you at this moment,
you can still think about him now and about the time when you would
meet soon. Thinking such happy thoughts will flood your system with
endorphins and other neuro-chemicals that cause happiness. Those
chemicals can pass through the umbilical cord to your baby provide him
with a sense of comfort, love and stability.
Your baby has limited hearing, but sound carries well in water. So
talk, sing, read to your baby
Just like a baby tends to prefer her mother's heartbeat and voice, you
can also teach the baby to be used to a stimulus ( pay less attention
to it). So if there is a constant sound in your life (ex. living next
to a train) there is a good chance your baby will be used to it.
Prepare your baby for life after birth. Tell your baby about the
normal, everyday experiences you face in the world she will be born
into. Make experiences out of even littlest mundane activities in your
life. Remember, what seems ordinary to you is certainly not
ordinary for your baby!
Play music as well, even if the mozart effect turns out to be fake,
just playing music does make new connections in your baby's brain and
increased connections in the brain means more learning
abilities. Play more low pitched relaxing music because
babies tend to hear low pitched music better, so playing relaxing music
not only relaxes mom but baby as well.
And mom needs to stay relaxed, because your baby will even follow in
sync with her heart beat. So if mom is stressed the increased heart
rate and flood of cortisol in the blood stream will make the baby's
heart race and also create more cortisol. Although a little
bit of stress or elevated heart rate can be useful for building heart
muscles and getting the body used to the stress, long periods of
elevated stress is when real damage occurs. Too much cortisol can
prevent the brain from laying down a new memory, or from accessing
already existing memories.
But just as stress affects your baby, the opposite is true. A study
done at the University of Kentucky College of Medicine,
followed 156 fetuses. The ones whose mother's wanted the pregnancy, had
high self-esteem, and received plenty of support had babies with the
calmest heart rate. Where as those whose mothers felt high levels of
anxiety, got little support, and had high levels of stress hormones the
babies had much higher heart rates (which have been linked to heart
disease and diabetes). The higher stress levels have been
associated to slow fetal growth, lower birth weight, and
increased possibility of premature delivery, which have been detected
as early as the second trimester.
So take advantage of these nine months to provide the optimum
environment possible for the development of your baby. Introduce your
baby to your favorite music, dance steps, and other experiences you
enjoy.