It's Never Too Early to Start

Have you ever thought about the first time you heard music? I am 30 weeks pregnant and my husband and I have been reading a day-by-day pregnancy book that tells us what is developing with the baby as time progresses. It was interesting to me to read that around 26 weeks the baby is able to hear and recognize sounds in utero! They say that baby can become familiar with certain songs or stories that are repeated and that once baby is born, they will be comforted by these same songs. I have a friend who recently had a baby and she told me that when she plays a song that she had listened to a lot when she was pregnant, her little girl calms down and settles! How amazing! I also read an article that reports that newborns are familiar with sounds that they have heard in the womb and that they prefer them to other sounds. Another study in the same article shows that newborns prefer a lullaby that was sung to them during pregnancy over one that was unfamiliar. I guess it’s never too early to start enjoying music-even before you are born!

Reference: Avi Gilboa (2014) The dual nature of the womb and its implications for music therapy, Nordic Journal of Music Therapy, 23:3, 242-262, DOI: 10.1080/08098131.2013.809784