Five ways to talk and interact with your baby bump

Your baby can actually see, smell, feel, remember, learn and possibly even dream by the sixth month of pregnancy. Remember, whatever the mother feels, the baby feels it too.1 Your unborn baby can hear your voice vibrating through your body. He/she will also identify your tone and voice pattern and will be able to distinguish your voice immediately after birth. The sound of deep male voices penetrates through the abdominal wall more easily as compared to female voices. So, the baby identifies male voices more commonly but will definitely prefer the voice of the mother.²

Here are a few activities that a mom-to-be can engage in to bond with her baby:

Sit down and relax, then gently rub your belly and ask your baby how he/she is.⁴
Your baby will relax at the sound of known voices, and he/she will be calmer when you are talking to him/her. Observe your baby’s response to this.⁵
Engage your partner and the entire family in talking to your baby, so that he/she can start recognizing them as family.^1,4
Try combining touch with talk, for example, if you feel your baby’s foot, touch it and say “this is my baby’s foot”. This will help him/her to make sense out of words and things.¹
Do not forget, your baby will communicate with you as well. So, it also important to listen and understand the cues. A kick can mean that he/she misses your voice or touch.¹