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Parentpedia
Recognizing Your Voice
People long suspected it, but scientists now have clinical proof that unborn babies recognize the sound of their parents' voices starting around week 28.
One team of scientists led by Barbara Kisilevsky of Queens University in Canada conducted a test in which they alternately played recordings of a mother's voice and that of a stranger to an unborn child. They found that the baby's heart rate increased in response to the mother's voice and decreased in response to the stranger's voice. The responses often went on for four minutes or more. Kisilevsky thinks the babies' heart rates slowed while a stranger was speaking, because they were paying closer attention to the unfamiliar sound.
Another researcher, Anthony DeCasper of the University of North Carolina, learned that babies can actually recognize specific stories read to them by their mothers. One fetus accustomed to hearing a particular Dr. Seuss story read by its mother reacted differently to that story read by a stranger than to an unfamiliar story. In this case, the fetus's heart rate actually lowered, indicating it had a calming effect. The point isn't whether the heartbeat speeds up or slows down, but that it shows a reaction of any kind.
Scientists now believe that fetal voice recognition may help strengthen the bond between mother and child. Studies have shown that newborns will change their behavior, including their suckling pattern, to hear a mother's voice while feeding.
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