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Scientific research - in thousands of professional articles - has been increasingly confirming what Chazal already knew: that even in the womb, babies start learning; their brains develop at breathtaking speed.
Please click on the following links for various sources.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29621826/
Here are some of the capacities of an unborn child:
Language learning
Studies have shown that weeks and even months before birth, babies begin to distinguish their parent's native language from other languages, and immediately after birth can separate out similar, but not identical words their parents are speaking.
Babies Seem to Pick Up Language in Utero NYTImes
https://archive.nytimes.com/well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/01/07/babies-seem-to-pick-up-language-in-utero/index.html
The Benefits of Reading to Your Baby in the Womb
Last updated on May 22, 2022 By Green Child Magazine https://www.greenchildmagazine.com/author/green-child-magazine/
You may think the only benefits of reading to your unborn baby are the relaxation and bonding you feel. But science shows that reading to baby in the womb helps develop early language learning. Talking, singing, or playing music to a baby while in the womb comes naturally to many expecting mothers. They instinctively know the importance of early bonding. And once baby gets active, it becomes more real that you’re walking around with another human constantly with you...
Will reading to your baby in the womb make them smarter?
Legend has it that cellist Pablo Casals started to sight-read a piece of music and soon realized he knew what was coming next, without reading it. He later learned that his cellist mother had rehearsed the piece daily in the later stages of her pregnancy.
Talking, reading, and playing a variety of music can help stimulate baby’s senses and improve her brain development, according to Dr. Michael Roizen. “Exposure to different sounds and scenes is essentially what helps establish connections from one set of neurons—the nerve cells of the brain—to another. This is how we all learn.”
Voice recognition and hearing
The heartbeats of babies in the womb are sensitive to their mothers' (and distinguish their fathers') voices. If the mother has regularly listened to a particular kind of music, the babies when born will show a preference for those tunes.
(continued from above excerpt)
Participation in reading is also a great way for other family members to connect with the baby. An older child can read or talk about her favorite parts of the story. And the new baby can start to learn their sibling’s voice...
Facial expressions
Thanks to advanced imaging, we now know that as they progress, unborn babies increasingly show facial expressions, most unmistakably in reaction to painful stimuli. They also smile (but sometimes, as with grown-ups, it's hard to tell why).Their facial expressions can show distress, fear, and also joy - especially when hearing one (or both) parents' voices - all in preparation for meeting Mommy and Tateh face-to-face. Added to this, they also sometimes cry. Their crying is muffled by the amniotic fluid; but that's fine: once they enter the wider world, they'll often need that crying to get the attention of their parents!
Planned action - avoiding danger and damage
Babies in the womb often thrash their limbs around, with great velocity - but researchers have observed that, in unborn twins, these movements slow down when the limb of one twin approaches contact with the other. They also slow down - seemingly more cautious - when the limb approaches their own eyes.
Taste, smell, touch
Though nourished through the umbilical cord, unborn babies taste and smell the foods eaten by their mothers, and they can carry a preference for these foods many years after birth. And as soon as limbs develop, they begin touching their own bodies, and obviously seem to enjoy putting their fingers and toes in their mouths.
But most amazing, is sight.
At the splitting of the sea, Rabbi Meir said, babies in the womb also sang "zeh Keili v'anvehu"
(Kesuvos, daf 7:)
But, Chazal ask, how could the babies see what was happening?
"Said Rabbi Tanchum, 'the mothers' bellies became like an illuminated lens, an אספקלריא המאירה ... and the babies saw..." And they sang for joy. (Sefer HaToda'ah, Kitov)
But wait a minute...could the unborn children's newly developing eyes actually see anything?
Recent advanced imaging techniques like 4D sonography reveal that babies have the power of sight even in the dimness of the womb.
Here's an excerpt from another recent scientific journal article ( from the same authors as above link) entitled:
Fetal Awareness (Donald School Journal of Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology.
https://www.dsjuog.com/doi/DSJUOG/pdf/10.5005/jp-journals-10009-1700
Imaging like this 4D sonography, is literally an אספקלריא המאירה - but from the outside, looking in.
Use search words "4-D sonography baby", and the internet displays hundreds of visuals like this:
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