Talking, singing, and reading to your baby during pregnancy can help support early language and communication development. Babies can recognise their mother’s voice and hear sounds from the womb, so familiar voices and rhythms can create a sense of comfort and lay the foundation for language learning after birth.
- Talk, sing, and read to me in your home language while I am in your tummy. This will help me recognise your voice and support my brain development.
- Think about what I might look like—this will help you feel more confident in talking to and bonding with me.
- When I kick and wriggle, respond by rubbing the same spot. This is me communicating with you.
Remember, we all learn at different speeds, but here are some things I might be doing:
- Start to recognise Mum’s voice from 16 to 20 weeks and communicate through movement.
- Suck my thumb from around 23 to 25 weeks. This helps strengthen the muscles in my face and mouth, which is important for feeding and making my first sounds.
- React to light and sounds during the second trimester.
You can speak to your Health Visitor or Midwife if you want to find out more about your babies developing communication and language whilst you are pregnant.
Useful Links:
Free wellbeing online courses in Jersey and Guernsey
Is it weird that I’m talking to my baby bump? – BBC Tiny Happy People
