A reading nation they say is a winning nation. In light of this, Read Ghana Foundation is of the view that, as a country we must do everything possible in making sure we tackle issues relating to reading from its core.
Against this background, reading should therefore be tackled from the womb [ads1]point of view and thus during pregnancy.
This is because, research findings and several studies have proven that, in the later stages of pregnancy thus from second trimester unborn babies are very much aware of the vibrations that voices have and can recognize them with ease.
So when pregnant women inculcate the culture of reading to their unborn babies, they can start bonding with them early.
As we all know that in our parts of the world and the world at large, through out pregnancy, pregnant women surely want to do things that can help their babies grow and develop well as expected.
So you will realized that, pregnant women will definitely take good care of themselves so that, their unborn babies gets all the required nutrition in order to avoid the risks of any defects or problems.
The question we will like to ask is that, have pregnant women ever considered reading to their unborn babies? In the outside world, many women believe that reading to their unborn babies can be of great benefit but then what about Africa? Do our African mothers also read during pregnancies?
It is also however funny and surprising to note that,some doctors don’t believe that reading to your unborn child can help your baby develop an interest in reading when he or she is born.The fact remains that it does.
As stated earlier,studies have proven that, in the later stages of pregnancy, unborn babies are aware of the vibrations that voices have and can recognize them with ease. Thus, by reading to your unborn child, you can start bonding with he or she early.
Once he or she is born, he or she will instantly recognize your voice. Hearing your voice stimulates an interest in sounds and helps he or she to develop listening skills.
Let us look at it from this analogy. It is just like how you can hear your neighbours. Unborn babies can also recognize soft music and loud music.
Soft music and soothing tones can help them relax. Loud music on the other hand can stimulate the fetus. In the other vain,if you want your baby to rest, you can play soft music or talk in a soothing tone. Your baby will hear it and relax in your womb.
In the same way, you can talk to your baby so that he or she recognizes your voice when you reading.
In the development of the brain,when the fetus hears the same noise over and over, it begins to respond to it. The response time also gets smaller and your foetus will respond very quickly after a while. This shows that even unborn babies have the ability to learn.
So therefore,it is very important to read to your unborn baby to ensure that, he or she’s brain develops well and he or she starts learning even before he or she is born.
Reading any book will help develop the recognition skills and learning skills of the baby.
Reading to your baby once he or she is born will help you establish a firm bond but it can be stronger if you start reading to your baby even before he or she is born.
It must put on record that,you don’t need to read any particular book. You must pick a book that interests you and read it aloud so that your unborn baby hears your voice.
If you do it everyday, your baby will recognize your voice soon enough and when he or she is born, he or she will feel much safer in your arms than he or she normally would because your voice will be familiar to the babies.
Husbands are not left out of this,they can also read to the unborn baby so that he or she recognizes their voices as well.
I hope and believe we all know the benefits children can reap by being exposed to books.
Most especially when one starts early, reading is proven to help with a child’s language development and increased word recognition, create a positive bond between parent and child, provide a great wind-down before bedtime and spark an early interest in learning that carries over to later years.
But, what about the advantages for your unborn baby?
There’s much to be said for reading to a child in the womb. There are numerous advantages to be had, both for baby as well as for the parents.Parent-baby bonding,reduction of maternal stress,listening skills development by the childs,familiarization with letter sounds etc
In addition,talking, reading and playing a variety of music can help stimulate baby’s senses and improve his or 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.
The truth remains that, pregnant women are so focused on the preparation for the coming of new life and the general health needs of the mother and baby.
However,paying early attention through reading builds a wonderful foundation to solid future relationships. It also helps parents slow down, relax and experience the fun moments of early parenting, all while enjoying the sweetness and simple lessons of a good picture book.
Introducing music and words while your baby is still growing inside of you may increase your baby’s intelligence; many expectant parents should start talking to their babies in the womb, reading to them and playing soothing music to generate a response from their developing brains.
Reading we should understand, provides auditory stimulation for babies’ growing brains and can acclimate children to the sounds of their parents’ voices.
A baby developing in the womb can become sensitive to her parents’ sounds and touches; reading aloud provides a soothing sound for baby to tune into while resting and growing.
The tones, voices and sounds that the baby hears during development can provide the foundation for learning new sounds and words after he or she is born.
After delivery, the baby may be more likely to respond positively to the people to whom she or he “listened” to during development.
Reading to unborn babies promotes language development, attention development, concentration skills and information synthesis.
A baby’s cognitive skills can also be improved with a variety of stimuli; reading represents one way to enhance these important developmental skills.
God willing next year,our foundation will do several engagements with pregnant women across the country so as to educate them very well on this particular subject.
We therefore,wish the general public especially readers a prosperous new year in advance.
Signed
Mathias Tulasi
Executive Director/Founder
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