Study Shows Pre-born Babies Respond to Mom's Touch Even More than Her Voice

Fr. Mark Hodges : Feb 23, 2016
LifeSiteNews.com

The study notes that babies "actively regulate their behaviors as a response to the external stimulation," and they do so earlier than previously thought.

(Dundee, Scotland)—A new study shows what expectant mothers have known for centuries: their babies in the womb respond when they stroke their pregnant bellies. (Photo via LifeSiteNews)

The University of Dundee conducted a study of 23 expectant mothers between the 21st and 33rd week of gestation. While a sonogram documented their babies' reactions, the mothers read a story to their babies, and then later rubbed their abdomens, and then later, as a "control test," mothers simply lay still with their hands at their side.

Not surprisingly, developing babies responded to both the voices of their mothers and their mothers' touch, even indirectly through stroking the maternal abdomen. The study notes that babies "actively regulate their behaviors as a response to the external stimulation," and they do so earlier than previously thought.

The study also that found the child within responds more to his mother's touch than...

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