Mothers who stimulated their babies before birth showed greater confidence, were more active at birth, and experienced better success at breastfeeding. Stimulated babies and their families showed more intense bonding and greater family cohesion. Prenatal stimulation provides a lasting foundation for loving communication and healthy parent-child relationships. On average, stimulated infants consistently scored higher than the non-stimulated control group on the Brazelton scale for neurological development and behavior and the Bayley scale for mental and motor development. Most importantly, prenatal stimulation techniques teach parents how to provide a safe, loving, exciting environment that will encourage their child to learn and grow all the way up to birth and beyond.
Babies can benefit from stimulation as early as the third month of pregnancy.
At this point, they begin to perceive spatial orientation and tactile stimuli. Babies develop sensory and motor skills at different stages during pregnancy, so it is important to introduce stimuli only after the baby has developed sufficiently to sense and respond to it. Once babies develop hearing in the fifth month, music is excellent for aural stimulation and to soothe the baby. However, mothers can give their babies the emotional benefits of music even before hearing develops at five months. Mothers who set aside time to relax daily by listening to music also help their babies feel calmer and happier.