Reading and Pregnancy

I believe that I owe my language skills all to my mom. I know that while she was pregnant, she was working then as a gradeschool teacher (grade one in particular) thus she talks most of the time, reads and sings always too. Even my name has something to do with a novel she was reading while she was pregnant.

A baby’s nerve pathways in the ears and neural system in the brain start developing as early as the twenty-sixth week, which is when the baby will begin responding to sounds and voices regularly. Introducing music and words while your baby is still growing inside of you may increase your baby’s intelligence; many expectant parents can start talking to their babies in the womb, reading to them and playing soothing music to generate a response from their developing brains. Reading provides auditory stimulation for babies’ growing brains and can acclimate children to the sounds of their parents’ voices.

During the early stages of development, you can train a baby’s brain to recognize words and sounds well before she understands the meaning behind them. A baby developing in the womb can become sensitive to her parents’ sounds and touches; reading aloud provides a soothing sound for baby to tune into while resting and growing.

The tones, voices and sounds that the baby hears during development can provide the foundation for learning new sounds and words after she is born. After delivery, the baby may be more likely to respond positively to the people to whom she “listened” during development. Reading promotes language development, attention development, concentration skills and information synthesis. A baby’s cognitive skills can also be improved with a variety of stimuli; reading represents one way to enhance these important developmental skills.

For now, me and my baby are always reading out aloud. I bought a jumbo book of fairy tales which I read aloud every night and for mommy, I have a new Nicholas Sparks book-The Lucky One.