10 September 2005

Babies Can Cry Inside The Womb

An infant's first cry may occur not in the delivery room, but in the womb, researchers have found.

With the help of video-recorded ultrasound images, the investigators found that a group of third-trimester fetuses showed evidence of "crying behavior" in response to a low-decibel noise played on the mother's abdomen.

Fetuses showed a "startle" response to the noise, along with deep inhalations and exhalations, an open mouth and a "quivering" chin --- all signs of crying.

The behavior, seen in 11 fetuses, began as early as the 28th week of pregnancy.

[ Reuters Health, Sept 9 2005 ]

Fetuses...scratch that....I'd like to call them babies already. Babies have been observed to be capable of 'crying' as early as 28 weeks. That's about 7 months. They appear to be very sensitive to sound, expressing discomfort even to a "low-decibel noise" placed on the mothers' tummies.

I wonder how they would react to a mother's grumbling stomach. Maybe it's a bad idea to have a sick stomach when you're pregnant. It might give your baby a lot of "noisy moments."

And if there's discomfort, there must be happiness, too. The study above lends credence to findings of other studies that show that babies can remember music they heard in the womb more than a year after birth.

Have you heard about the Mozart Effect? It says that music can influence our development. Can classical make babies smarter? Presently, there is still controversy over this, and more studies are needed to come up with a definite conclusion. But many researchers believe that playing music to babies in the womb, helps build the neural bridges along which thoughts and information travel in the developing brain of the young.

If I were a baby inside my mother's womb again, I think I'd prefer classical music over my mom's stomach sounds. Whether it makes me smarter or not, at least I can say, my stay in the womb had been a pleasant one. 'Just a thought.

6 reactions:

may said...

i say the studies are not to be taken seriously, because: mozart's and bach's moms did not let them listen to classical music when they were in the womb, with intentions to make them musically inclined. when you are gifted, you are gifted. the mother's role is to encourage her kids to use that gift productively. just mt thought doc.

Dr. Emer said...

That's a good point, May. Many geniuses sure didn't have classical music played when they were fetuses, and still they ended up geniuses. There must a host of other factors which makes one a genius or smarter.

TinTin said...

I will definitely be one of those that play classical music to my baby, and reads lots of books to them as well.

Toni said...

Wow! This is quite insighftful. I didn't know babies could cry in their mothers' wombs. Can they laugh too? :)

If ever I get pregnant, I'd love to put on all kinds of music then see which one works best with my baby. I'll also read him/her a lot of books and poetry. :)

Lisa said...

I like the idea of knowing babys crying in the womb.I also think it is a good idea to read and play all sorts of music to your baby. I read and play music for both of my kids and they love it so much. It is not the point that they get smarter it is the point that there will be a strong bond formed between the chil and the mother.

Anonymous said...

Read the Bible to your child. The Bible says to teach them in the ways they should go. Let the sounds they hear be from Gods Word.