Have you heard about “belly talk”? It’s the practice among parents-to-be of talking to their unborn child while in utero. But this is no informal chatter. Rather, belly talk is a phenomenon that has proponents and products.
The proponents claim that reading books to and playing music for a fetus gives the child a head start educationally, and some parents who practice belly talk say they are trying to “maximize” their baby’s time in the womb.
The products include sophisticated devices with names like “The BabyPlus Prenatal Education System” (for only $149.95) and “Wombsong Prenatal Sound System” (for a mere $49.95). These products include such things as microphones for both parents and headsets with mini-speakers and stethoscope receivers to place on mom’s stomach. The BabyPlus includes a recording of a 16-week course on rhythmic sounds for the baby in the belly, and the package is sold with the marketing pitch, “You’re never too young to learn. (In fact, you don’t even have to be born.)”
Now there actually are studies that show that unborn infants hear and recognize their mother’s voice, but there is no evidence that any of this belly talk has the slightest benefit for the child. In fact, a leading researcher in the field says that belly talk “won’t make your baby smarter, healthier or better.” What’s more, he worries that belly-talk gadgets could damage babies’ hearing.1
In any case, the belly-talk movement reveals a sense at large in the society that life is so busy that the further ahead you can start, the better off you are. Just imagine if you could be born already knowing the alphabet. Maybe you could take your SATs at age 5!
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