Through a child’s eyes the world is such a beautiful and wonderful place. Though a child lives in a silent rural village or a busy urban area, the world which they see is new to them. They try to build up their self confidence through their new experiences.
 Mother listening to rhythmic music |
Parent’s relationship with an unborn baby is very powerful. Especially a mother cannot hide her feelings about her unborn baby. Mother’s emotional experiences have a direct impact on baby’s brain development. Prenatal bonding provides a better environment filled with love, safety and many other things for a baby before the birth and after the birth.
“It is necessary to teach parents how to communicate with their unborn child as it brings long term benefits for the child. Most of the parents in Sri Lanka have a poor knowledge about prenatal development. Parents can build physical capacity and mental capability, intelligence of a child when he or she is in mother’s womb. Parents can even start learning before the baby enters the world.
“Parental reading is a great support for the child to start early literacy skills. Parents should also share with the baby what they hope about its characteristics and ability in the future. As the leader of the family, father has a big responsibly to look after mother and children. He should support his wife to control himself when in pregnancy and provide best nutrition for the baby in pregnancy and after baby was born. Father should keep communication with the baby. This is like ordering the baby to become what you want,” said the Colombo National Hospital Nursing Officer in Charge of Training Pushpa Ramyani de Soyza.
According to Soyza, pregnancy is broken down into weeks, and is divided into three parts called trimesters. Full term pregnancy is considered 40 weeks and an infant delivered before the 37th week completed is considered premature. Pregnancy is counted from the first day of the mother’s last periods. This means that at conception, mother is already considered two-weeks pregnant.
The story of the baby’s life begins when a sperm fertilizes an egg. After the first day of the last normal menstrual period, the sperm and egg join in the fallopian tube and the fertilization has occurred.
 The baby can identify the mother’s voice after five months |
Forty-six chromosomes combine, which pre-determine all of a person’s physical characteristics. The fertilized egg is still rapidly dividing as it floats down from the fallopian tube and towards the uterus. The embryo first moves into the uterus at about 80 hours after ovulation. The implantation process begins about 3 days later.
“Now the developing embryo is in the uterus, it searches for a nice place to implant. When one is found, the zygote burrows beneath the surface of the uterus. At this stage the fertilized egg is now called a blastocyst, it is a fluid filled cluster of 50 to 60 cells, still multiplying madly. Implantation of the blastocyst occurs at about day five to day eight of embryo development. IVF embryos are usually transferred into the uterus around this stage. The developing embryo is only one-hundredth of an inch long, but is rapidly developing. It can reproduce itself through twinning at any time up to about 14 days after conception,” she said.
Nursing Officer in Charge also said that on the 26th day after fertilization, the embryo’s tiny heart begins to beat. At this time the embryo is still size of a raisin. There is rapid growth, and the baby’s main external features begin to take form. Low on the sides of the head are two folds of tissue that will become the ears.
About seven weeks later the baby’s facial features are visible, including a mouth and tongue. The eyes have a retina and lens. The major muscle system is developed, and the baby starts to practice moving. The baby has its own blood type and the blood cells are produced by the liver. After eight weeks the unborn baby is now called a fetus.
During this time of development, the baby’s head appears much larger than the body because the brain is growing very rapidly. Brain waves can now be measured. The teeth and the palate are beginning to form and the larynx is developing. Through its parchment-thin skin, the baby’s veins are clearly visible. By the eighth week the ears begin to take shape.
Week 12, or the third month, is the end of the first trimester and now baby can experience many sensations and able to begin communicating with mother. After three months baby is connected to mother emotionally as well as physically. Mother’s emotions and feelings are transmitted to the baby. So it is important to be happy.
Mother’s happiness and positive feelings creates pleasant feelings in the child. After five months were completed child can hear and recognize mother’s voice as well as baby can hear the voices of other people who are speaking close by like father’s voice. Baby can also hear environmental sounds. So it is better to have peaceful environment. Mother’s voice is the most familiar and soothing sound to your unborn baby.
Parents can start bonding with him before he enters the world by talking and reading. Parents can read aloud lullabies and stories, sing to your baby and listen to rhythmic music. Sometimes the baby physically responds. After 32 weeks the nervous system is fully formed and ready to operate through a complex mass of neurons. The signals they emit turn into messages, ideas, decisions and memory, she said.
Parents can enhance the intelligence and creativity of their children and strengthen the bond between parents and the child by using this pregnancy planning. They are the best gifts parents can give their children.
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