We've already heard about the power of singing lullabies during pregnancy but did you know talking to your baby in the womb could increase their ability to learn a language?
New research suggests babies begin learning languages in utero, rather than the second six months of their lives as previously believed.
Linguistics researcher Dr. Anne Cutler, from Western Sydney University, found that newborns can recognise the voices that they hear regularly in the final trimester of pregnancy.
What's even more fascinating is that babies in the study who were adopted internationally, had a preference for languages with the same rhythm as their birth mother's language - the language they had heard in the womb.
Other research, which looked at Dutch-adopted Korean babies found that these babies learnt to make Korean language sounds, significantly better than the babies born to Dutch-speaking families.
This research proves that the sounds that the Korean babies heard in utero had influenced their learning of Korean, even though Dutch was their first language.
It seems that the language that babies hear in utero can influence how they perceive sounds, according to Kidspot.
Dr Cutler’s research suggests that babies may recognise voices that they’ve been hearing regularly in the womb, during the third trimester. The researchers provided the babies specially designed pacifiers that enabled the babies to hear different speakers and languages.
The babies showed a clear preference for their mothers' voices and language sounds made by their mothers.
According to the researchers, there's no need to go to great lengths if you want to help your tot pick up a language.
Talking, singing and playing music to your bump are all great ways to introduce sounds and voices to them.
Previous research suggests that babies and toddlers who heard more words from their caregivers before the age of three, developed higher IQs and did better at school.
However, listening to TV sounds actually had a negative effect on them.
So get chatting to your bump or baby, it could have amazing results down the road.
