There has been a lot of talk about prenatal stimulation and how it can affect our babies even before they are born. It turns out that ancient Chinese culture, and philosophers like Aristotle, Plato, and Confucius already had their theories about prenatal receptivity, the relationship between the womb environment and behavior, and even fetal brain function!
But this is not just a thing of the past. From 1920 until now, plenty of studies have been conducted on this topic, and they have found that babies perceive and react to external stimuli. Yes, you heard it right! That’s why prenatal stimulation can help in the development of our little one’s senses even before they enter the world. Isn’t it incredible?
Here are some examples from these fascinating studies:
- Albrecht Peiper from the University of Leipzig used a speaker to stimulate the baby’s hearing in the womb, and he noticed a fetal reaction!
- Psychologists David Escanda and Donald Hebb claimed that early stimulation creates changes in the brain, all after stimulating the fetus’s hearing and observing their reactions in the womb.
- Rene Van de Carr developed a methodology of prenatal stimulation after noticing the babies’ reactions after touching the belly.
- Dr. Brent Logan, the director of the Prenatal Institute in Seattle, and Dr. Thomas Verny, the founder of the North American Association of Prenatal and Perinatal Psychology, have studied the effects of the external environment on fetuses and the importance of prenatal stimulation. They have published their findings and even created methods to stimulate the development of babies in the womb.
Thanks to the research conducted through the years, we now know that our babies can react to a wide range of stimuli before they are born. So, don’t hesitate to put prenatal stimulation techniques into practice to awaken your baby’s senses, before they even take their first breath!