5 ways to stimulate your baby while still in the womb

Stimulating the baby while still in the womb, with music or reading, can promote his cognitive development, since he is already aware of what is happening around him, responding to stimuli through his heartbeat, which becomes calmer, his movements and imitating the suction movement.

Furthermore, the exercises used to stimulate the baby also help to strengthen the bonds between mother and baby, reducing the risk of postpartum depression, for example.

Some ways to stimulate the baby while still in the womb are:

1. Lightly touching your belly

Touching the belly during pregnancy is a movement that almost all pregnant women do from the beginning of pregnancy and is usually interpreted as the pregnant woman wanting to give affection to the baby that is growing in her belly.

However, several studies indicate that touch can also be felt by the baby, especially after 8 weeks of gestation, making him feel more relaxed and loved, facilitating his development. Often, the baby may even respond to touch by moving in the uterus or pushing his feet and hands against his belly.

2. Put headphones on your belly

From 25 weeks of pregnancy onwards, the baby’s ears are sufficiently developed to be able to hear voices and sounds from outside the belly and, therefore, are already able to recognize stimuli such as music.

Music typically has a relaxing effect on the baby, as well as helping with language understanding, as music with words, such as nursery rhymes, can help the baby recognize words more easily after birth.

3. Telling stories to the baby

Just like music, telling stories to your baby also helps your baby recognize words earlier, facilitating the language development process.

Although the stories can be told by the father, it is also important that they are told by the mother, since it is the mother’s voice that the baby recognizes best, as it is the voice that is always closest to the womb throughout the day.

4. Exercising in the water

Being in the water is one of the simplest ways to relax during pregnancy, as it helps to relieve all the weight and pressure created on the body, making it easier for the mother to release all the emotional stress she is feeling.

Releasing stress is very important, not only for the health of the pregnant woman, but also for the baby, as when stress hormones are very high, they can hinder brain development.

5. Get some sun every day

Sunbathing every day for at least 20 minutes helps your baby develop stronger bones and also prevents heart problems from developing. Furthermore, the sun helps the body produce more vitamin D, which can prevent the onset of autism.