BENEFITS OF SINGING TO YOUR BABY, BEFORE AND AFTER BIRTH

BENEFITS OF SINGING TO
YOUR BABY, BEFORE AND AFTER BIRTH
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People have sung to their babies forever. Every
culture has lullabies and children’s songs that are
passed down through the generations. New ones are
written and shared, and the custom goes on—a rich
part of the fabric of human civilization. 
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These songs
are designed to relax babies, calm their fears, or
entertain and amuse them throughout childhood. As
we have learned more about the life and capabilities
of fetuses, we have realized that a fetus can hear
clearly for months before birth, and can also
discriminate sounds. At birth, newborns respond to
familiar sounds by becoming calm and orienting
toward the source of the sound, and even indicate
their preferences for familiar voices and words over
the unfamiliar.
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Newborn babies prefer their parents’ voices, and
other familiar ones, over those of strangers, and they
prefer hearing a story that their mother had read
frequently while they were in utero over an
unfamiliar story, or even the familiar one read by
someone other than their mother. Fetuses hear,
remember, have preferences, respond to, and
discriminate among differences—in sounds, music,
voices.
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These exciting findings have inspired educators to
advocate prenatal learning through recordings played
through a mother’s abdomen (of languages, music
and other things). They have inspired birth activists
and baby advocates to provide a safe, enriching
environment for the fetus. Advocates of prenatal
bonding emphasize communication between parent
and unborn child as a powerful way to strengthen the
bond.
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I’d like to offer my take on this phenomenon, and
urge everyone who works with expectant parents to
tell them about some unique and heartwarming
benefits of singing or reciting rhymes to their unborn
babies.
I think my interest in parents singing to their babies
prenatally began in the 1980s when I first read
Michel Odent’s book, Birth Reborn. Odent, a French
physician who was ahead of his time, ran a unique
and original maternity care program at his hospital in
Pithiviers, France. His book had a great influence on
my understanding of normal birth, and the book is
still worth reading today, as are his subsequent ones.
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Odent’s maternity program included a weekly singing
group, attended by pregnant women, their partners,
families with young babies, the midwives and Odent
himself. The group was led by an opera singer who
believed singing to be important for fetuses, babies
and those who care for them. Odent’s account
inspired me to invite Jamie Shilling, a folk singer who
had recently taken my birth class, to bring her guitar
and her baby to my classes a half hour early each
week and sing with the expectant parents. This went
on very successfully for several class series;
afterward, the groups decided to combine and carry
on in a private home with a monthly sing-along for
expectant parents and new families. Although the
groups eventually disbanded, they provided many
parents with opportunities to sing together and
connect with their babies and each other in relaxing
and peaceful surroundings. A high point during that
time was when Michel Odent came to Seattle to give
a conference and he agreed to come to one of our
sing-alongs. He taught us the song, “Little Black Cat”
in French.
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I couldn’t help but think, during those times, about
how the unborn and new babies must have loved
hearing their parents singing. Seeing the parents
caressing the mother’s belly as they sang was
heartwarming. That happened in the mid-1980s,
when much research on the capabilities of the
unborn and newborn baby was beginning to be
published. Recalling those special gatherings, I have
always suggested to my students in childbirth class
that they sing to their unborn babies, or play their
favorite recorded music, with the thought that the
baby will remember it and be soothed by it after
birth.
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One couple, for whom I served as a birth doula, took
my suggestion to another level, and showed me
much more about the value of singing to the unborn
baby. They were having their second child, hoping for
a VBAC (vaginal birth after caesarean). When they
discovered that they were having a boy, they decided
to give their baby the song, “Here Comes the Sun”
and sang it to him often during pregnancy. The VBAC
was not possible, however. As the cesarean was
underway, the baby boy, crying lustily, was raised for
his parents to see, and his father began belting out
the baby’s song. Though his mother didn’t have a
strong voice under the circumstances, she also sang.
The baby turned his head, turned his face right
toward his father, and calmed down while his father
sang. Time stopped. As I looked around the operating
room, I saw tears appear on the surgical masks.
It’s a moment I’ll never forget, and it was that event
that taught me the value not only of singing
prenatally, but also of singing the same song every
day. Not only does the baby hear his or her parents’
voices, not only does he or she hear music, but the
baby also gets to know one song very well. .
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Familiarity
adds another feature to this concept, because we
know that fetuses have memory and prefer the
familiar. Think for a moment about what this might
have meant to our cesarean-born baby—suddenly
being removed from the warmth, wetness and
dimness of the womb with his mother’s reassuring
heartbeat, into the cold, bright, noisy operating
room. The baby’s transition to extra-uterine life is
hectic and full of new sensations. He cries reflexively,
but perhaps also out of shock and discomfort. Then
he hears something familiar—voices and music and
the sounds of words that he has heard many times
before—something he likes. He calms down, and
seeks the source of this familiar song. Everyone
present was moved by this gift to the baby from his
parents.
I’ve become passionate about this idea as a way to
enhance bonding between parents and babies, but
also as a unique and practical measure for soothing a
fussing baby or a sick baby who can’t be held or
breastfed.
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What is the research evidence for postnatal benefits
to parents or babies of singing to the baby before
birth?
Fetuses can sense audio vibrations and rhythms
early in pregnancy. Later in pregnancy they can hear
and distinguish various sounds.
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Babies recognize their parents’ voices after birth.
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Newborns prefer their parents’ voices over the
voices of strangers.
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Repetitive prenatal reading of one story by one
parent every day for weeks results in the newborn’s
recognition of and preference for that story.
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Fetuses respond to music by calming, becoming
active, changes in fetal heart rate (depending on the
music).
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Premature babies are calmed by calming music.
Newborns and young babies are calmed by familiar
music, as demonstrated by the universal use of
ullabies.
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If parents feel they can’t sing or are too embarrassed
to do it, I suggest choosing a poem that has a nice
rhythmic meter, and recite that to the baby. I recommend Mother Goose rhymes, or poems in
books by A.A. Milne, such as When We Were Very
Young and Now We Are Six, or Shel Silverstein’s
Where the Sidewalk Ends and others.
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Recent students in my birth class took my suggestion
to heart, singing “Las Mañanitas,” a traditional
Mexican birthday song, to their unborn baby
frequently. The dad would lie with his head on the
mother’s pregnant belly as they sang. They even
videotaped sessions while the mother was having a
non-stress test that showed the baby’s heart rate
steadying when the dad was singing, and rising when
he was not. The dad sang to their sweet little
daughter right after the birth. She cried pretty hard
when she was being suctioned and rubbed with
blanket, but his singing calmed her down.
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I’ve just completed a film for children. In the film,
we see 4-year-old Maia singing ”Twinkle, Twinkle,
Little Star” to her baby sister before birth, and again
right after birth. Neve, her sister, calms down when
she hears Maia singing the familiar song.
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When parents sing one (or possibly a few) songs
repeatedly to their child, before and after birth, it is
a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to build a unique,
meaningful and fun connection with their baby. The
child already knows and loves the song as sung by his
or her parents more than any other song, sung by
anyone else. Parents always have their voice with
them and can use it to comfort, soothe, and play with
their child for years to come. Parents have the
opportunity to give their baby a gift, prenatally, that
becomes a gift for them as well.
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Simple steps to singing to the baby in utero and
after birth
In light of all that has been learned about babies, I think we can combine it all into a simple approach to
enhance bonding, soothe the baby, and empower
parents with a unique tool to soothe their baby that
only they can use. I propose that we who provide
care and education for expectant parents urge them
to do the following at around 30–32 weeks’ gestation
(or earlier or later):
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1. Choose a song that you like and is easy for you to
sing. It might be a lullaby or a children’s song,
but it does not have to be. It can be one of your
favorite songs, or a popular song of the day.
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2. Sing it every day. Both parents can sing it
together, but each of you should also sing it
alone much of the time. It can be played with a
musical instrument some of the time, but it also
should be played without an instrument much of
the time.
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3. When your baby is born, after the initial lung-
clearing cry, sing the song to your baby. The baby
can be in your arms or with a nurse in the
warmer. If your baby is crying, try to sing close
to his or her ear or loud enough that he or she
can hear it at least during the pauses to take a
breath.
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4. Continue singing it every day, especially during
times when your baby is crying (and has been
fed; don’t use it as a substitute for feeding!).
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5. Sing it when bathing or diapering your baby,
when soothing or helping your baby go to sleep.
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6. Sing it when your baby is upset and you can’t pick
her up, such as when driving in the car and you
can’t stop and take the baby out of the car seat,
or at a checkup, if the doctor is doing something
painful.
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COURTESY : penny