Can a baby in the womb feel your emotions
Emotional health for parents during pregnancy and after the birth
Emotional health for parents during pregnancy and after the birth
What is emotional health?
Emotional health is a state of wellbeing. When you feel well and content, you are better able to cope with stress, maintain relationships and enjoy life.
Looking after your emotional health has benefits for both you and your baby.
Being active, feeling a sense of belonging and having a purpose in life are all good for emotional health and wellbeing. You will feel happier and better able to deal with problems and stress.
For more information and tips on how to be emotionally and mentally healthy, visit Act-Belong-Commit (external site).
Benefits of emotional health during pregnancy
When you are pregnant, your baby is exposed to everything you experience. This includes the sounds in the environment, the air you breathe, the food you eat and the emotions you feel.
When you feel happy and calm, it allows your baby to develop in a happy, calm environment. However, emotions like stress and anxiety can increase particular hormones in your body, which can affect your baby’s developing body and brain.
Benefits of emotional health after your baby is born
From birth, the interactions you have with your baby helps to shape the way he or she will think, feel and behave later in life. These interactions also help to form important emotional bonds between you and your child.
Good emotional health also helps to maintain positive relationships with your older children and other family. They can help support you and your partner through the challenges of adjusting to a new baby.
For information about connecting and bonding with your newborn, visit the Raising Children Network (external site).
What if I’m struggling with my emotions?
Often one or both parents experience difficult emotions during pregnancy, or after the birth of a child. You are not alone.
You might be feeling like hiding the fact you are struggling because you feel embarrassed or ashamed.
It is normal to have occasional negative thoughts, dreams or fleeting doubts.
Many things can make you feel this way including:
- worries about the birth
- lack of sleep
- worries about how you’re coping as a parent.
There are things you can do to help yourself get through the more challenging aspects of parenthood. You can read about some common emotional problems in parents with new babies here.
Becoming a mum
Becoming a mum can mean your hopes and dreams have come true. You may love feeling your baby move inside. You may feel a sense of achievement in giving birth. You may love holding, touching, watching, smelling and playing with your baby. Some mums may not feel that overwhelming sense of love they were anticipating straight away.
Sometimes the happy emotions of motherhood are mixed up with feelings of loss, fear, worry, guilt and frustration. You might think:
- What if I make too many mistakes?
- Will people think I’m a bad mother?
- What about my old life?
It is normal to ask yourself lots of questions when you’re going through a major life change, like having a baby.
Big changes in your life can leave you feeling overwhelmed, especially when things don’t happen the way you expected.
Becoming a dad
While women usually start preparing emotionally for parenthood during pregnancy, some fathers begin this process after the birth. As a result, the reality of fatherhood can be quite a shock. Even if you have been preparing throughout the pregnancy, some fathers can feel unprepared for the reality of having a newborn.
Some fathers can feel fierce, protective, overwhelming love for their child straight away, for others it may take a bit longer.
Fatherhood is just as challenging as motherhood, though not always for the same reasons. You might think:
- I want to help with the baby, but I don’t know how.
- It’s stressful managing work and family commitments.
You might also notice your relationship with your partner changes a lot too.
It’s normal to feel confused, stressed and out of your comfort zone when you have a new baby.
With any new or difficult situation, sometimes you are able to cope with the challenge, and sometimes you can feel overwhelmed. Fatherhood is no exception.
Just remember – there are plenty of things you can do to support yourself and your partner during this time.
If it is takinf more than a couple of weeks to feel a connection with your baby, you should talk to a health professional. Read more about common emotional problems here
Where to get help
- See your doctor, obstetrician, child health nurse or midwife
- Talk to a counsellor, psychologist or psychiatrist
- Phone the Pregnancy, Birth and Baby Helpline on 1800 882 436
- Phone the Mental Health Emergency Response Line – Perth metro 1300 55 788 or Peel 1800 676 822
- Phone Rural Link, an after-hours mental health phone service for rural communities, on 1800 552 002
- Phone the Post and Antenatal Depression Association helpline on 1300 726 306 (9. 30am to 4.30pm Monday to Friday)
- Phone the Parenting Line on 1800 654 432
- Visit healthdirect (external site) or call 1800 022 222
Acknowledgements
Women and Newborn Health Service
This publication is provided for education and information purposes only. It is not a substitute for professional medical care. Information about a therapy, service, product or treatment does not imply endorsement and is not intended to replace advice from your healthcare professional. Readers should note that over time currency and completeness of the information may change. All users should seek advice from a qualified healthcare professional for a diagnosis and answers to their medical questions.
See also
- Causes of emotional problems in parents with new babies
- Common emotional problems in parents with new babies
- Emotional health in parents with new babies across cultures
- Generalised anxiety disorder – emotional health for new parents
- Obsessive compulsive disorder – emotional health for new parents
- Panic disorder – emotional health for new parents
- Personal stories of depression and anxiety in parents with new babies
- Phobias – emotional health for new parents
- Treatment options for parents experiencing emotional problems during pregnancy and after the birth
Feeling The Pregnant Blues | Do Mom and Baby Share Emotions
Home / Community / News Releases / News Release / When I Feel Sad While Pregnant, Does My Baby Feel Sad?
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What you experience is directly connected to your baby when you’re pregnant, because you’re their everything. At this point in time, all they know of the entire world is you. It’s an incredibly special, and honestly magical, connection—but that connection also means that your baby can feel your negative emotions.
You and Your Baby’s Emotional ConnectionResearch 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.
During the gestational period, your baby is preparing themselves for life in the outside world. How do they do this? By interpreting the messages you’re sending them throughout your pregnancy. A study from the University of California-Irvine found that the emotional state of a mother influences the development of her baby both before and after birth.
All throughout pregnancy, your baby is constantly receiving messages from you, whether it’s the sound of your heartbeat, or the music you’re playing for your belly. But did you know that they’re also receiving chemical, hormonal signals through the placenta? These signals include ones connected directly to your emotional state. If you’re very sad, or suffering from depression, your baby experiences those feelings as well. Your emotional state affects your baby’s development for a significant portion of their life.
Depression is a serious, but treatable, condition that can have a serious impact on your unborn baby. Depression in pregnant mothers can actually lead to neurological problems and psychiatric issues in your child. In addition to this, older children whose mothers suffered from anxiety during their pregnancy actually have certain differences in their brain structure.
Protect You and Your Baby’s Mental HealthIt’s important for any mother—or any person for that matter—experiencing anxiety or depression to seek treatment. Unfortunately, many pregnant women don’t think about having a psychological or psychiatric evaluation before giving birth.
But one of the best things you can do for your baby during the gestational period is to try to maintain a balanced emotional state. We know there’s a lot to be stressed about (even without being pregnant!) so make sure you’re taking time for you, as well as seeking treatment if necessary.
According to research, mood swings affect your baby the most. Why? Because your baby will actually feel insecure when they’re experiencing constant short bursts of happiness, followed quickly by negative emotions. These imbalances can affect your baby’s development—both before and after birth.
The range of emotions that your baby can pick up on are extremely wide. For example, if you don’t want your pregnancy, your baby can feel that same rejection. This can cause emotional problems for your baby in the future.
In this very important stage of pregnancy, where you and your baby are developing a lifelong bond, it’s crucial to take care of yourself. There’s endless information out there about what to eat, what not to eat, how to exercise, etc. while pregnant—but your mental health is just as important, if not more so.
For more pregnancy research and advice, check out our blog page. To book your first maternity appointment, click here!
Life before birth – Dixion Medical Center in Orel
The author of the article is
Olga Mikhailovna Khoreva,
psychologist of the clinic "Dixion"
In modern society, we no longer treat pregnant women with such trepidation, but at the same time we still know little about the life of a person in the womb of a mother. We have little idea what it feels like to happen. Perinatal psychology reveals these mysteries.
This kind of psychology appeared not so long ago, about forty years ago. This science studies the mental life of a baby in the womb or a newborn, his connection with his mother, the influence of her psychological state on him.
Many scientists claim that the fetus has a long-term memory and mental life.
The perinatal period has a great influence on the future of a person. It turns out that what happened to him in the womb, as well as during and after childbirth, is stored in his subconscious. In the future, these events affect how a person will become, how he will behave in certain situations.
The events of the perinatal period can be divided into three stages: pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum period.
Stage 1: Pregnancy
At this time, a person's life potential is formed, the ability to adapt to various conditions. Dear mothers, learn to love your baby in the tummy, even if his appearance was not a very pleasant surprise for you!
According to scientists, the basic physical and mental potential of the desired child is much higher. Otherwise, children do not sleep well, are easily upset, and cannot calm down for a long time. Often they are physically weaker than desired children.
The baby in the mother's belly is very sensitive to her mood. He hears, sees, tastes and touches. The child "sees the world" through the eyes of the mother, perceives it through her emotions. Therefore, pregnant women are asked to avoid stress, not to worry.
The child succeeds in all this with the help of hormones that come to the child through the placenta, and with the help of the mother's electromagnetic field. Scientists believe that mother and child communicate by means of millimeter-wave electromagnetic waves.
It is possible that some of the information is transmitted to the child through the aquatic environment of the mother's body. But the baby still in the womb can show independence. From about the tenth week, the fetus feels touch, that is, it has a sense of touch. From the eighteenth week - begins to distinguish the taste and drink amniotic fluid. At this time, you need to carefully monitor your menu - you can teach your child to eat "not right."
Hearing develops around the 22nd week, but children do not hear external noise well. They are disturbed by the sound of the work of the internal organs of the mother. But they hear their mother perfectly. So we recommend expectant mothers to sing songs, read aloud and just talk to your baby.
This is best done when the baby is awake. This time is easy to determine. Usually during this period the child is actively moving. It will be great if every day during this period you communicate with him like this: touch your tummy and say something, for example: “Hello, baby.” Over time, the conversations will become longer, and the child will respond to touches by pushing. It is advisable to involve older children and dad in this game. Just keep in mind that each family member should have a “own” part of the tummy for touching and their own “sound code”. In this way, the baby's sense of touch and hearing are developed, and it also has a positive effect on the emotional development of the child.
By the twenty-fourth week, the child's pupils are able to react to light. Some scientists believe that complete darkness reigns in the womb, others that the red part of the spectrum enters the uterus. The baby will learn to distinguish smells only when he is born - being in the womb, he will trust the mother's sense of smell.
Stage 2: Birth
Who will be the child in the "big" life - will he be a "winner" or "victim", how will he fight for a place under the sun - this is determined during this perinatal period.
Scientists believe that natural childbirth has the best effect on the future of the baby. Stimulation of childbirth has a negative impact on the mother and child - it breaks their interaction, speeds up the process against their will, so it is worth resorting to it only for medical reasons. Despite the fact that with a planned caesarean section, everything happens painlessly for the baby, many scientists believe that in this case your child will not become a fighter, and they do not recommend resorting to cesarean section unnecessarily.
If you want your child to be a fighter, behave properly when pushing, and then the mouse will become more assertive in the performance of the tasks assigned to him, act accordingly and perceive various situations objectively.
Breathing will help to behave properly during contractions and efforts, and it will also help reduce pain. You can learn how to breathe correctly during childbirth on your own or in courses for pregnant women. During childbirth, listen carefully to what the midwife says and try to follow her advice.
Husband, mother or other close person can provide great support and assistance during childbirth. The so-called joint births have a number of advantages: during contractions, the mother will not be alone with pain, there will be a loved one nearby who can distract her, support and help in this difficult situation; besides this close person is easier to perceive than a stranger, so the words of the midwife, repeated by the husband, will reach your consciousness faster.
Stage 3: Postpartum
According to scientists, at this perinatal stage, a person's attitude to freedom, their capabilities and strengths is formed. Therefore, during natural childbirth, the child is immediately placed on the mother's stomach. He sees his mother, feels her warmth, that is, he feels protected. Immediately after birth, the baby looks at his mother's face - he seems to get to know her again. This process of "gazing" is called bonding.
Psychologists say that during this process a stable emotional bond is formed between mother and child. If the father, whom the baby had only heard before, is next to the newborn and the mother, it will be just great - he will also be involved in the bonding process. It will be great if dad takes the baby in his arms, hugs him, talks to him. The presence of the father is especially important in the case of a caesarean section. While the doctors are "conjuring" over the mother, the baby will be in the hands of the father.
If it happens that a child cannot be with his mother for a long time after giving birth, then in life independence may become a burden for him. But with good care, breastfeeding for up to a year, tenderness and love, this state of affairs can be corrected.
Breastfeeding is a very important moment that affects both the emotional and physical development of the child.
The composition of breast milk is individual and ideal for just one baby. This composition changes during the day and days of a newborn's life.
Emotions are the thread that connects mother and child - they still form a single whole, but in the psycho-emotional, and not in the physical plane. The newborn is very sensitive to the mood of the mother. If the mother is upset, then the baby also behaves restlessly.
An important factor influencing the emotional development of a child is the attentive, sensitive attitude of his parents both to him and to each other. You need to spend as much time as possible together, smile, hold the child in your arms more often.
It has been proven that the baby develops faster if he has a lot of contact with his parents from birth. Of great importance are touches at every change of clothes, bathing, carrying on hands, feeding, massage.
It may be that some of the hypotheses of perinatal psychology seem dubious. But this science makes you think that inside a pregnant woman is not just a fetus, but a developing personality.
A baby inside the womb is not a physiological thing, it is a person who has his own mental life, and his future largely depends on the woman, on how she behaved during pregnancy, childbirth and the first hours after them.
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How a child in the womb reacts to external. Life-threatening emotions
Not all women, while carrying a fetus, think about what the child feels in the mother's womb, meanwhile, the feelings of the crumbs develop very early. Now, thanks to modern technology, scientists have been able to look into the world of the unborn child, and this has brought amazing discoveries that formed the basis of prenatal education.
Baby's nervous system and sense organs are formed very early . The prototype of the brain appears as early as the fifth week of pregnancy, by the time you find out that you will soon become a mother, and the fetus is no larger than a comma in this text. And the first nerve endings are already appearing, so far concentrated in the mouth area ...
Only a few fleeting weeks pass, and the sensitivity rapidly spreads throughout the body, first the inner thighs, then the hands and feet, then the whole body, and by the 7th week the baby feels all over the skin. His brain becomes so complicated that the child has the ability to respond to irritation. Touching the baby at week 7 causes a violent reaction in him, he pulls back the handle or leg. And by this time, he feels pain perfectly, just like you and me. There is a sense of taste and ... the ability to feel the light.
The baby's emotions, his perception of the outside world is now going through the mother's feelings. We can say that he feels your thoughts, reads all your experiences. Both your joy and your sadness are shared with the baby in half. The feelings of the baby in the womb are born through hormones that are produced in the mother's body during emotions. You are frightened or upset, crying - your heart is bursting under the influence of stress hormones, and the bloodstream brings them to the child too, and he feels everything the same as you. You are happy and calm, your blood is filled with hormones of happiness, endorphins, and the child in your womb also receives them in abundance, feeling happiness with you. All this happens in the first trimester, when the growth of the fetus has not reached 10 cm. Think about it, it is during this period that most abortions are done ...
In the uterus, the baby feels cozy warmth with all his skin, he is as if in weightlessness, and cannot understand where is up and where is down. The loops of the umbilical cord touch his sensitive skin, and in response to an accidental touch, he may try to grab it. Periodically, it touches the smooth pulsating inner surface of the fetal bladder, adjacent to the uterus, and immediately repels from the elastic slippery wall, as if from a trampoline. Having accidentally touched his face with a pen, he grabs his fingers in his mouth and sucks. It is proved that this process is really a pleasure for children.
We managed to peep amazing things with the help of ultrasound. A 12-week-old fetus is able to suck its fingers, accidentally touching the umbilical cord clamps it in a fist ... Feels his face, hands, studies his body... Of course, these are not conscious and probably not even purposeful movements, at least 4 months will pass before the formation of targeted grasping after the baby is born, but all these are sensations.
Particularly rapid development of the cerebral cortex and sensory organs falls on the second trimester. The organ of hearing, taste develops, by the end of the second trimester the eyes open.
The organ of balance improves, when you walk, the baby sways inside, and this puts him to sleep.
From 14-15 weeks the fetus develops sensitivity of the taste buds in the mouth , and on the ultrasound they spied how the baby frowns from the bitter taste of amniotic fluid, and actively swallows them if they are sweet. In fact, when you eat, the amniotic fluid takes on some of the flavor of your food. They become sweet if you eat something sweet, and seasonings and spices give them a sharp flavor. The taste preferences of the baby are laid already at such an early stage.
Baby's hearing becomes acute by 16-17 weeks . He hears your voice, but a little differently than we hear it, when you speak, your lungs resonate, and the sound comes out distorted. At the same time, in the water world, the crumbs are very noisy, a huge heart beats over it, and the lungs pump air with noise 24 hours a day. The vessels of the mother are noisy, creating an even rumble of blood flow, all the splashes and rumblings of the huge and continuously working intestines are heard. He also hears sounds from the outside world, for example, music, voices. Interestingly, already from such an early date, the baby's brain is able to remember, after birth, familiar sounds will soothe him. It has been proven that in utero children prefer classical music, it puts them to sleep, and mother's and father's voice, if the parents talked to the belly, calm the newborn after childbirth.
Baby opens eyes at 20 weeks pregnant . It is dark in the uterus, but the longer the period, the more the abdominal wall stretches, and if bright sunlight falls on the tummy, the baby’s world is illuminated with an orange-pink light. The crumbs do not like this and turn away from the light.
From the age of 15-16 weeks, the baby is able to feel touches on the stomach. At a later date, the responses to stroking the pregnant belly become so obvious that it turns into a dialogue between two. The baby arches and follows the hand, can push in response.
The sensations of a child in the mother's womb are so diverse that he . .. learns to dream. Already at 20-22 weeks of gestation, the sleeping fetus has movements of the eyeballs of closed eyes, which is so characteristic of the active phase of dreams. What are they, these dreams of an unborn child? The interweaving of impressions and emotions received during the period of wakefulness, voices and reflections of light on the anterior abdominal wall ...
By the time of delivery, your baby feels more and more cramped. The uterus does not allow him to straighten up, he is clamped and does not even have the opportunity to turn around. The agonizing expectation of the first contractions is not only the lot of a woman, but also of her child, every day he is getting more and more cramped and uncomfortable inside.
One can only imagine how a baby feels in the womb when labor begins. The world, previously so reliable, gentle and cozy, seems to be collapsing, the hugs of the uterus become suffocating, and the unknown lies ahead. The baby does not understand what is happening, and his perception of childbirth depends entirely on how his mother feels. The fear of a woman, excitement and stress are accompanied by a powerful release of adrenaline, and the fetus gets a huge dose of this hormone. If you are afraid and in pain, he feels it with you. Calm, confident perception of childbirth, the patience of the mother, her communication with the baby during labor, convey to the child the confidence that something good is happening, such children after childbirth are much calmer and easier to adapt.
During childbirth, the baby experiences the so-called birth stress. Perinatal psychologists consider it a boon for the child, a kind of hardening before meeting with a new world for him. In childbirth, reflexes make the baby work too. At each contraction, he will rest his legs against the bottom of the uterus, helping you, he will turn his body around to go through the birth canal. Experiencing hard work, a moderate lack of oxygen, the baby gains the first experience of fighting for his life.
Birth unleashes a sea of new feelings on a child. The bright light of the outside world and the coldness on wet skin, the first breath rushing into the lungs, the air rushing into the lungs, one's own first cry, the people around, the sudden appearance of bright new colors - these are probably the strongest feelings that we experience in our lives. And then the warmth of a mother's embrace, the first kiss, the familiar soothing suckling, the first sip of salty colostrum, and finally a deep, long, restorative sleep...
The life of a future mother is full of impressions and sensations. And it's not that all pregnant women abruptly start looking for adventures. It's about hormonal and physical changes.
This merry-go-round of emotions raises questions, for example, how does a baby feel in the womb when she cries?
Let's think.
Everyone knows
After the 29th week, the fetus has developed all the senses. He already hears, reacts to light, feels tastes, smells.
When the baby's father strokes the belly, the baby may become quiet. This saves many mothers whose children love to practice balancing act in the womb.
And from that moment on, future parents (not all, though many) begin to submit to learning the alphabet and restrictions on intimacy, because the child is already like a completely human being.
The baby does not separate himself from his mother. When they begin to influence him from the outside, he either calms down (protection in case of danger), or actively shows his discontent.
Therefore, everything should be done the other way around: to direct positive influences on the pregnant woman. What's good for the mother is good for the baby.
During intimacy, a woman receives a cocktail of hormones of joy, which are transferred to the baby. So it is not necessary to limit sex during pregnancy without medical indications.
The exception to the question "good" is bad habits. Alcohol, smoking and coffee adversely affect the fetus. Harmful substances cross the placenta and go directly to the fetus. Scientists have found that when a mother smokes, less oxygen is supplied to the child, and this causes painful cramps in him. The baby begins to writhe and move. Moreover, the little man protests already at the stage when mom only thinks about a cigarette.
You can watch a short video on how the fetus reacts to smoking while pregnant. (The video was cruel for me, so I do not advise the faint of heart to watch).
It turns out
In fact, from the 10th week of pregnancy there is an active exchange of emotions between a pregnant woman and her unborn child!
Almost every emotion corresponds to a separate hormone. For example, in moments of joy, endorphins are released, and in moments of sadness, the adrenal glands produce catechoshmines. Through the placenta, hormones easily reach the baby.
There are photographs that show that the baby in the womb smiles almost simultaneously with the mother or copies other emotions (it turns out that the state too).
Accordingly, if a mother cries, then the little man can cry with her.
The crying of a baby in the womb:
The fetus can also communicate its mood to the mother. Such is the exchange.
Life-threatening emotions
Prolonged and frequent stress can lead to impaired blood supply to the placenta. However, it should be understood that hormones are produced in a stressful situation. A complex mechanism starts. What for? For an emergency solution to the situation, for the possibility of survival. There is an incentive to action aimed at a successful outcome of the situation. Everything is provided by nature.
In a stressful situation, it is important to respond appropriately. Instead of holding on to emotions because “you shouldn’t be nervous,” let them go:
speak out, shout, break a plate, cry, eat candy ...
Risk is the persistence of a stressor. If you are nervous all the time, try to eliminate the disturbing factor.
Conclusion
In the book of Zh. Tsaregradskaya “A child from conception from a year” it is written: “During pregnancy, the hormones of joy endorphins, penetrating to the fetus, give him a feeling of peace and happiness. The child's frequent experience of this state in the womb contributes to the correct formation of his psyche, determines his personal qualities, which undoubtedly determines the nature of his behavior and actions in later life. Numerous surveys of mothers have shown that mothers who are expecting a child and love him even before birth, children are born healthier and mentally stable.
The key to health is mother's love!
People tend to experience different emotions. And exceptional joy - a direct path to the hospital for the mentally ill.
The notorious “no need to be nervous” is already rather unnerving!
If a pregnant woman is nervous, cries, and then releases her sadness, having coped with it, she eventually shows the child that the world is different. And the emotions are different. And how can you deal with these emotions?
There are different situations in life. A stress factor is possible, but the clouds pass, and the sun and bright sky appear!
Take care of yourself!
To cheer up, I suggest watching a video of a baby in the womb clapping his hands when his parents sing:
Do you have many questions about newborn care? This is good, because a proper understanding of these topics will serve the health and well-being of your child. Pay attention to the excellent courses of the doctor Irina Zhgareva, which will help you navigate the beginning of your motherhood:
"Preparation for pregnancy and childbirth"
"Natural Parenting: Myths and Reefs"
"Secrets of happy motherhood"
This article was prepared with the support of mother art consultant Evgenia Starkova. You can ask her a question on the topic of the article in the comments, or using the feedback form .
All pregnant women know that it is necessary to talk to a baby in the womb, because it is beneficial for babies, because they hear a lot while being in the mother's belly. In this article, we will tell you how hearing develops in a fetus when it begins to hear for real and what exactly it listens to in the mother's womb.
Embryogenesis of hearing organs
The process of formation of hearing organs in a baby is one of the most complex. At 4-5 weeks of gestation (when the mother is just beginning to delay menstruation), the embryo appears in the embryo, which will later become the inner ear. At 7-8 weeks of gestation, structures of the middle ear begin to form. The outer ear is finally formed in the third trimester, and hardening of the cartilage of the ears occurs shortly before childbirth.
Until the fifth month of pregnancy, a very important process of laying and forming the structures of the inner ear lasts. The labyrinth finally becomes solid by the 18th week of pregnancy. The auditory ossicles begin to become hard at about 3 months of pregnancy and this process is completed closer to childbirth.
The outer ear, even at birth, is imperfect. The ear canal remains soft, and its final design is completed only during the first year of the baby's life.
Since the process of hearing embryogenesis in a child is not yet fully understood and is very multistage, an unforeseen situation may arise at any of the stages, which can lead to the birth of a baby with hearing impairment.
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The ability to hear
The ability to hear the baby in the womb acquires at the 15th week of pregnancy. It is at this moment that the main stages of laying the inner ear are completed and the processes of forming the middle ear are already underway. At first, the perception of sounds in a baby is not the same as ours. He hears them, but the cerebral cortex is not yet mature and is not able to analyze the signals. The hearing of the fetus at 15-16 weeks of gestation is more like the auditory perception of the world by reptiles. He only picks up the vibration created by sound waves with his inner ear .
Mom's heartbeat is one vibration, a loud sound from a heavy object falling next to mom or an alarm clock is a completely different vibration.
Hearing almost like us, the baby begins only at 26-27 weeks of pregnancy. This means that at this time the fetus not only hears, but reacts to sound. He gradually learns not only to hear something, but also to analyze what he hears. The newborn turns his head to the source of the sound. He learned this in the womb.
During the last three months of fetal development, the baby listens to sounds with pleasure. Hearing for him in the third trimester is another way of knowing the world around him.
What do you hear?
Baby can't hear everything. It is naive to believe that in his mother's womb he abides in silence and grace, enjoying the voice of his mother, who reads fairy tales to him. In the womb, the noise level is almost like in a small factory, and in it the baby simply physically cannot perceive all the sounds from the outside. He constantly hears the noise of the blood flow in the vessels, the mother's breathing, the peristalsis of her intestines, the beating of the heart.
If the mother speaks, he can hear her voice well. In later pregnancy, the fetus already feels the mood of its mother by the timbre and strength of her voice. If the future parent screams, the baby starts to worry. The child reacts to sharp sounds with increased motor activity. This is how the work of the auditory nerve manifests itself as the center of hearing is formed in the cerebral cortex.
This is very easy to check. It is enough to turn on the music in the headphones and attach them to the pregnant belly. The baby will begin to move more actively or, conversely, change his behavior, becoming quiet. Scientists have found that in a child at a gestational age of 30 weeks, certain areas of the cerebral cortex begin to activate - mainly the temporal and frontal lobes. It is these centers that are responsible for the recognition of spoken language, for logic and thinking, for the ability to learn.
Mothers often ask at what stage of pregnancy they can start reading books to their children and talking to them. The answer is quite simple - on any. But the most beneficial for the development of the baby will be from the lullabies of the mother and her fairy tales, combined with gentle stroking of the abdomen with a hand after 25-26 weeks of pregnancy. It is at this time that the fetus will begin to analyze the sound, its source. He will have favorite musical compositions, as well as sounds that he does not like.
For example, most pregnant women note that babies after the 28th week of pregnancy react quite nervously to the slamming of the door, to the barking of a dog, to the ringing of a mechanical alarm clock.
The child must be allowed to listen to music. He cannot hear her through the headphones if they are on his mother's ears. Music at this moment is perceived only by a woman. The child feels her emotions and nothing more.
If you turn on the music through the speakers, both mother and child will enjoy listening to music.
Remember that all sounds from the outside for the baby sound a little muffled, because the abdominal wall of the parent and the amniotic fluid in which the baby is in the way interfere. But in general, he captures well what is happening on the other side of the abdomen.
That is why you should not quarrel and shout, swear. It is better to introduce the baby to classical music, gentle children's lullabies, then he will recognize these melodies even after birth. It has been proven that newborns and infants fall asleep much better to the music that they are already familiar with from the time they were in the womb. After birth, babies immediately recognize familiar voices - mother's, father's.
See the next video for when a baby in the womb begins to hear.
All mothers, both after and before the birth of their baby, are worried about their health and well-being, well-being and mood. Pregnant women should never be upset, but some external circumstances, hormonal disruptions and changes in mood, affect the moral well-being of the mother. Therefore, the question is what feels the child in the womb when she cries occurs frequently.
The baby is closely related to his mother before and after birth. Feels her mood and its differences, reacts to them, sympathizes and empathizes with troubles. Starting from the 29th week of pregnancy, the child has already developed all the senses, he smells and tastes, feels the space around him, and even distinguishes between changes in lighting. Therefore, you should not be upset and cry during pregnancy. The future well-being of your baby will be affected by your behavior during pregnancy. It is worth being careful with your emotions, protecting yourself from nervous shocks and stress.
There are many books on pregnancy, childbirth and newborns. They are written by qualified doctors: psychologists and pediatricians. Of course, you can trust them, but you should not miss the presence of individual indicators of the mother and fetus. And so, many experts argue that the moral connection between mother and child is very dense and close. But besides the emotional connection, there is also a physical one. When a mother rejoices, an “injection” of a hormone, endorphin, occurs in her blood, and accordingly, it also occurs in the baby’s blood in the womb, his mood rises. Children in the mother's stomach are just as able to rejoice and smile as mother.
Unfortunately, not only joyful emotions are felt by the baby in the womb, sadness and stress are the same. When a mother is under stress, she is not in the mood, something depresses her, the hormone cortisol or cortisone is released. These hormones also come from the mother into the blood of the child, respectively, the mother, unwittingly, passes on her bad mood to the unborn baby. And he can be sad and cry, which is scientifically proven.
A child can also get a nervous shock from his mother. When she is scared, adrenaline enters the blood, and it also enters the child's blood. The kid begins to get nervous and afraid, suffers and fights. Such stresses are always deposited in the subconscious, and affect the moral well-being and psyche of the crumbs.
It is possible to offend a baby in the womb. Even if the mother is a little upset, it directly affects the baby. As well as what she tells, sings, and gives to listen to. The child feels not only care and love, but also disappointment and negativity. Therefore, when mom cries, the baby cries with her . The baby reacts to the tone of voice, movement and even breathing. It is worth being extremely careful with what you say and listen to, what you look at and even what you think about during pregnancy. The slightest difference affects the character and behavior of the child in the future. It is worth buying a handbook with fairy tales, and limiting all films that cause a bad mood, fear and tears.
When the fetus begins to hear and the influence of music on him.
At what gestational age does the baby begin to perceive sounds? What sounds does he like to hear? What sounds scare the fetus? What noises interfere with development?
In this article, we have analyzed several important questions at once:
What does the fetus hear?
What is the effect of music on the fetus?
However, first of all, let's answer the most important question: when does the fetus get the opportunity to hear.