0 TO 9 MONTHS JOURNEY IN THE WOMB.............

Can my baby learn in the womb (uterus)?

Your womb is a sensory playground for your baby. From about 10 weeks, she’s already wriggling and stretching her tiny limbs. 

Once she reaches 23 weeks, she'll be able to hear your voice and other sounds, and may even respond to what she hears by moving around more. She may also develop a taste for the food you eat, and respond when you touch your bump. It's through these experiences that your baby prepares for life after birth. 

You can certainly help your baby’s natural cognitive development by interacting with her, and this includes singing and talking. By reading stories, playing music, or even just talking to your baby, you can let her experience a simple form of learning in the womb, according to a number of studies.

However, some experts say that we can't rule out the possibility that learning happens after birth, rather than before it. Also, even if teaching your unborn baby is possible, there's little proof that it has any long-lasting, beneficial effect.

What can my baby learn in the womb?

Experts say that your baby will probably be able to remember certain sounds and tastes from the womb after she's born.

Towards the end of the second trimester, your baby starts to hear. While her main soundtrack is your heartbeat, breathing, voice, pumping of blood and gurgles of digestion, she can also hear muffled noises from outside your body. While a daily dose of Mozart during pregnancy won’t make your baby a musical prodigy, she may recognise and be soothed by it when she hears it again as a newborn.

There's no evidence that playing your baby classical music will make her more intelligent. However, listening to music is a lovely way for you both to unwind. So do pop on anything calm and soothing, and enjoy the music together. 

When you play music to your baby in the womb, her heart rate may increase and she may move more. Shortly after birth, she may respond to particular pieces of music that she heard regularly in the womb, by becoming more wriggly and alert. 

In the same way, your baby may also show that she recalls and is comforted by other noises heard while in the womb. These could be the theme tune of your favourite TV programme or a story frequently read out loud to her. She may also prefer your voice to others, and pay extra attention when you speak.

One study found that if music was played while mums-to-be relaxed, the same music would soothe their newborns. They ceased to cry, opened their eyes, and made fewer jerky movements. So it looks as if babies may associate their experiences in the womb with whatever their mother is feeling at the time.

It’s not only the sounds your baby hears in the womb that she's likely to remember later. What you eat while you're pregnant affects the flavour of your amniotic fluid, and it's thought that your baby may also be able to remember the different tastes that she experiences.

Some experts believe that this familiarity with flavours can help to establish breastfeeding, as your diet also affects the flavour of your breastmilk. Your baby may even prefer these familiar-tasting foods during weaning. 

One study showed that babies whose mums drank a lot of carrot juice during the last trimester preferred carrot-flavoured cereal rather than plain. This highlights the important of a varied diet while you are pregnant, as it may help your baby to enjoy a wider range of different foods.

http://www.babycentre.co.uk/a1049781/will-my-baby-learn-anything-in-the-womb#ixzz46OVyrbl1