Can You Hear Me Now?

Wifey has begun listening to classical music for the baby, which led me to wonder what the baby actually hears. I told her that with the baby sitting in a balloon of water in her tummy, he probably won't be able to hear much, unless she lied face down on top of a speaker. Then I read about Month 5 in my baby book, which proved me entirely wrong. (It's worse enough when wifey says I'm wrong, but it's worse when it's in writing.)

The next few paragraphs will be taken directly from The Expectant Father:

'In one study...newborns whose mothers had watched a particular soap opera while they were pregnant stopped crying when they heard the show's theme song. Babies who hadn't been exposed to the show had no reaction when they heard the music.

'Nine out of ten newborns selected a story recorded by their own mother over the same story recorded by another woman.'

As a father, 'if you whisper in one of your baby's ears and an unknown man whispers in the other, the baby, who "recognizes" you,will turn toward you 80 percent of the time.'

And the most fascinating piece, from Canadian orchestra conductor Boris Brott:

'As a young man, I was mystified by this ability I had to play certain pieces sight unseen. I'd be conducting a score for the first time and, suddenly, the cello line would jump out at me: I'd know the flow of the piece before I turned the page of the score. One day, I mentioned this to my mother, who is a professional celloist... All the scores I knew sight unseen were ones she had played when she was pregnant with me.'

So all this stuff about prenatal learning is actually true. So next time you see us, or any other pregnant person, be careful what you say - baby's listening!