Prenatal Development: Exploring What Babies Learn Before Birth

This essay explores the fascinating topic of prenatal learning, detailing what babies learn before they are born. It discusses the impact of maternal voice recognition, language acquisition, taste preferences, and dietary influences on fetal development. The essay highlights the importance of this knowledge for pregnant women and families, suggesting ways to promote optimal fetal learning and development. It also proposes further research into pregnant women's behavior and fetal behavior during the prenatal period to gain deeper insights into the ideal conditions for fetal development and postnatal survival. The author also reflects on questions they would ask a presenter on this topic, focusing on evidence-based research, sucking reflexes, language acquisition, and the physiological mechanisms behind maternal starvation and its effects. This comprehensive analysis offers a valuable perspective on the critical role of the prenatal environment in shaping a baby's development and well-being. Desklib provides access to similar essays and solved assignments for students.

Running head: WHAT BABIES LEARN BEFORE THEY ARE BORN
What babies learn before they are born
Name of the student:
Name of the University:
Author’s note

1WHAT BABIES LEARN BEFORE THEY ARE BORN
Answer 1:
A lot of research has been done in the past about the brain and its function. Such
information plays an important role in understanding developments patterns in children and
adult. Many more new and revolutionary brain research is going on and it is important for
scientist to remain update with brain research because it can help to explore a new dynamic
picture of the brain function which was not known early. Being updated with new research may
help to solve certain barriers that come in understanding human development in different
context. New and current research on brain development can help to identify new ways of
treating and preventing brain related disorders (DiLuca & Olesen, 2014).. Hence, practice
becomes easier when it is based on findings from recent medical research. In case of child
learning and development also, there are many new research which are analyzing the impact of
pregnancy physiology on child development, which can have implications for shaping the lives
of children and families (Ansell, 2016).
Answer 2:
After seeing this video, I am amazed to learn that a baby starts learning before birth.
Although I was aware that babies organs begins to develop at different stages of pregnancy,
however I was not aware that babies start learning from the womb. For me, learning in children
started after birth which was a misconception. Some of the surprises or wow information that I
have received from this video are as follows:
1. It was surprising to learn that babies recognize their mother’s voices in the womb. I was
aware that the amniotic fluid provides nutrition to fetus, however the information of

2WHAT BABIES LEARN BEFORE THEY ARE BORN
sound traveling from the mother’s abdominal tissue through the amniotic fluid is a wow
element for me (Paul, 2011). I am no more able to relate to the fact that why babies
respond so much to the voice of their mothers.
2. Another very intriguing and new information that I have found in the video is that babies
cry in the accent of their mother’s native language too. The information that French
babies cry on a rising note and German babies use falling note is fascinating information
(Paul, 2011). In this case also, the mother’s role in babies learning in the womb is
recognized.
3. I am also aware that babies develop their taste buds and olfactory receptors by seven
months of gestation. However, new information that I have gained from the video is that
babies recognize the flavors of the food their mother take too. This is a very surprising
element (Paul, 2011). The video proved this fact by explanation regarding range of
experiment done with pregnant women where babies were found to favor a food item
when their mother ate a lot of that food item in the third trimester of pregnancy.
4. The video is full of new information on what babies learn in the womb. The manner in
which pregnant mothers diet affect a baby is also a new thing to learn. By stories on the
‘Hunger winter’ and the way prenatal experience affects the bodies of mothers is also
new information to learn (Paul, 2011). By using such information, pregnant women can
help to provide the best environment to the fetus to promote their health and well being
after birth too.
Answer 3:
The information provides is very necessary for pregnant women and families to learn so that
pregnant women take proper diet and behaves in a manner to promote optimal learning and

3WHAT BABIES LEARN BEFORE THEY ARE BORN
development of their fetus. When I will graduate, then I aim pass on these information to
families by holding a weekly session on the topic in centers where pregnant women comes for
visit. I plan to present the information in an audio visual format along with some pictures too so
that pregnant women get the message very clearly (Nagendran, & Dimick, 2014). I will also
distribute pamphlet after session which will make them aware about list of things that pregnant
women should do during pregnancy. This will help them to maintain good diet as well as provide
favorable environment to the developing fetus.
Answer 4:
With regard to child development, I think research on the pregnant women behavior and fetal
behavior during the prenatal period should be further explored. This is because the video has
given a short insight that different types of pregnant women’s behavior such as her voice, her
diet and food patterns affects the response that babies take after birth. Hence, it would be
interesting to learn the ideal behavior that women should demonstrate during the pregnancy
period for the optimal development of fetus. It will also help gain new insight regarding how
fetal behavior promotes survival and transition to the postnatal world. Such research would give
detailed insight into prenatal sensory experiences and their impact on the structure of brain and
neural processing (Hepper, 2015). Such research will also have great implication in improving
survival and development in babies after birth.
Answer 5:
If I was present in the audience, I would have asked the presenter the following list of
questions:

4WHAT BABIES LEARN BEFORE THEY ARE BORN
1. With regard to the information given that fetal learns the sound of their mother’s voices, I
would ask the presenter whether there is any valid evidence based research to prove the
point. Gaining this knowledge will be important for me to ensure that the information is
credible (Cope, 2014, January). If I get to access 4-5 recent articles that prove that fetus
hears the sound of their mother’s voice, then I would be more able to believe the
information.
2. At the starting of the video, the presenter told that babies are good at sucking. Hence, I
would like to ask the presenter why babies do not have to learn sucking. What
experiences in the prenatal period help them learn ways to suck. This would give new
insight regarding any maternal behavior that promotes acquiring such skills in babies.
3. In response to the presenter’s statement that babies cry in their mother’s native language
and that they imitate melodic contours of the language (Paul, 2011), I would ask how a
fetus can learn such specific skill. This information seemed unbelievable because melodic
contours of a language are a complex task which seems unbelievable to be done by a
fetus. More explanation might help to get clear understanding about the fact.
4. I would also like to inquire about the physiological mechanism in pregnant women who
starves and its contribution to high rate of obesity and diabetes. The mechanism behind
the action would be clear by this statement.

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References
Ansell, N. (2016). Children, youth and development. Routledge.
Cope, D. G. (2014, January). Methods and meanings: credibility and trustworthiness of
qualitative research. In Oncology nursing forum (Vol. 41, No. 1).
DiLuca, M., & Olesen, J. (2014). The cost of brain diseases: a burden or a
challenge?. Neuron, 82(6), 1205-1208.
Hepper, P. (2015). Behavior during the prenatal period: Adaptive for development and
survival. Child Development Perspectives, 9(1), 38-43.
Nagendran, M., & Dimick, J. B. (2014). Disseminating research findings: preparing for
Generation Y. JAMA surgery, 149(7), 629-630.
Paul, A. (2011). What we learn before we're born. Ted.com. Retrieved 19 February 2018, from
https://www.ted.com/talks/annie_murphy_paul_what_we_learn_before_we_re_born/
transcript#t-237862