Is Prenatal Stimulation Important?
Babies can feel many things since they are in the womb, for that reason it is customary to perform prenatal stimulation. However, this is a rather recent practice, which is why many mothers in the world may not yet do it. Experts explain that it is very important to do so.
The human fetus is known to be able to hear from the first sixteen weeks of gestation. Also, you may feel changes taking place on the outside. According to studies, babies can perceive stimulation more clearly when they have reached the second trimester. It is at this time that much of your senses have developed.
The main stimuli that the baby receives while it is in uterine life are carried out through the ear. It is recommended to talk to him, put music or sing to him, as these practices can influence his growth as a child. It is also believed that the baby can see, although not clearly. It seems that he is able to perceive certain variations in the dim light that penetrates the darkness of the mother’s womb.
How does prenatal stimulation influence the growth of the baby?
According to the explanation of Dr. Jorge Sandoval, gynecologist, it is very important that we perform early stimulation, as it fosters the main links between the baby and his family. In addition, prenatal stimulation has been proven to benefit the child’s physical, emotional, mental, and sensory development. Your senses will activate at any suggestion.
There are certain stimuli that, although they are physical, can be perceived by the baby from a different perspective, for example, when we caress our tummy, we are transmitting a feeling that will reach him in a different way. In general, these expressions work as an accompaniment to the process, allowing the baby in the womb to not feel alone and their senses will be more developed at birth.
The more emotional connections that develop during pregnancy, the more likely it is that the baby will adapt more easily to extrauterine life. You may be able to recognize the voices you heard inside the womb, so you may calm down more quickly and feel the same affection as always.
According to Dr. Sandoval, prenatal stimulation is also related to the development of intelligence, since it becomes part of the formation and neurological growth, through the connections that are developed at that stage. In this sense, from the first four months of pregnancy, it connects and learns from the outside, through the auditory system, which is favored when it comes to music and pleasant sounds.
However, just as you can receive positive stimuli, you can also perceive not so healthy sensations ; for example, family arguments, work stress or situations that disturb the mother’s peace. Therefore, it is important to be calm and remember that after each moment of stress, we must stimulate the baby through positive and comforting sensations.
Stimulation of the senses
The timely development of the baby’s senses is very important so that they are born prepared for all the changes that they will experience in their new life. The environment to which the newborn will arrive is totally different from the one where it developed, so it is convenient that it has some aspects in advance, for example, that it can recognize at least certain sounds.
Other senses that develop during pregnancy are taste, smell and touch. These appear between the first 11 and 13 weeks of pregnancy. Through the placenta, substances with different smells and flavors are transferred to the fetus. This allows us to also carry out a stimulation through the food we consume, the more aromatic the better.
As hearing develops, sight also begins to form. To verify that these senses are activated, experts have performed ultrasound examinations in which they have noticed variations in the baby’s heart rate. It is also possible to visualize brain activity in cases of visual and auditory stimulation.
The baby can also react to the mother’s movement or her mood, due to the hormonal alteration that in certain cases appears. That is, some substances that the body produces during stressful situations may stimulate some mechanisms capable of altering the heart rate, blood pressure or maternal respiration.
