The sensory capacities of the fetus
The knowledge acquired over the past decades on the sensory capacities of the fetus has significantly changed the way we look at intrauterine life. Only about thirty years ago, it was considered that the senses of the fetus were very little, if at all, developed. He wasn’t supposed to hear outside noises like music or his daddy’s voice. Now we now know that his hearing, his taste or even his tactile sensitivity are well and truly formed in his mother’s womb. But from there to think that the embryo and the fetus can perceive everything …
The senses of the fetus become operational from the last trimester
“From the first months of gestation, many future mothers imagine their embryonic child both receptive to the environment and to their emotions, already capable of manifesting in utero likes or dislikes marked for certain voices, certain words, certain music, whereas, in reality, , he cannot hear yet! “, Deplore Carolyn Granier-Deferre and Marie-Claire Busnel today, two researchers who have greatly contributed to advancing knowledge about the hearing capacities of the fetus (in” Spirale “n ° 59, ed. Érès, September 2011).
Unnecessary overstimulation of the fetus
In reality, the senses mature for several months, they only become operational during the last trimester and continue to perfect even after birth. It would therefore be pointless to want to stimulate your baby from the first weeks of life. Subsequently, when the senses are refined, overstimulations are of no more interest. They can even have a negative impact on the fetus.
Besides, what use would it be to want to introduce him so early to foreign languages or to impose classical music on him? The ordinary daily life is already more than enough to develop one’s senses. Sometimes her mother sings in the shower, sometimes she plays the piano or listens to the radio, sometimes she eats salty or sweet, sometimes she swims a few lengths in the pool … day.
