How Maternal Heartbeat Sounds Aid in Baby's Prenatal Development Stage

There's a memorable scene in the hit movie “Baby Mama” where Tina Fey's character tells Amy Poehler's character how important prenatal care is. Fey stresses that whatever the pregnant mom eats, the baby eats; whatever the pregnant mom listens to, the baby listens to. Poehler then quips that she prefers that the baby listens to DMX's rap music like she does.

While that scene was played out for laughs, Fey was actually on to something. Scientific research attests that the fetus's hearing ability is already well developed by the end of the second trimester, and music can stimulate brain activity. However, what you make your baby-to-be listen to is incredibly important; you may love heavy metal music, but this type of music may not be a good idea during the prenatal development stage.

Classical Music

Many parenting resources suggest that the most ideal type of music to make babies-to-be listen to is classical music, preferably Mozart's or Bach's. However, there is actually no concrete evidence that listening to classical music during pregnancy will help produce highly intelligent babies. Evidence is strong, though, that there is much significant effect of exposing babies to classical music—that is, when they are out of their mom's wombs.

In addition, listening to classical music may aid in the production of breast milk in nursing moms. This statement is at least according to research by psychologist and book author Sergio della Sala. Sala wrote that a farmer in Italy told him that playing Mozart at least three times a day helped his buffalos produce better milk.

Maternal Heartbeat Sounds

While classical music has yet to be proven in early brain development, a report in Time magazine says that maternal voice and heartbeat sounds provide comfort to premature babies. In the same way, pre-born babies can be stimulated by electronic devices that replicate maternal heartbeat sounds.

Putting a pair of headphones against the belly of a pregnant mom makes for a comical scene in some TV shows and movies. However, there is truth to how babies can respond to the sounds they hear even when they are in their mom's womb.