Mother’s Voice Is A Source Of Emotional Support

The mother’s voice is the most powerful link with which our baby will open up to the world to feel loved and safe. With each word, we create new neural circuits, so don’t hesitate to talk to him, and to “stroke” his mind with phrases full of affection.

Interestingly, although, to some extent, scientists have already intuited that the role of the mother is essential to a child’s language development (even more so because the interaction between mother and baby is generally more intimate than with the father), what was not known was the large amount of neural structures that the maternal voice usually stimulates.

This study was carried out at Stanford University in the United States and was recently published in several specialized journals. According to this work, the mothers’ voice is one of the most powerful stimuli to favor a child’s brain development.

We’ll explain it in the following article.

The maternal voice and the social development of children

When raising a child, each stimulus counts and has an importance that, on certain occasions, we cannot even imagine. Make it clear that the father’s voice is also fundamental, as is that of any other person who spends enough time with a baby to effect “that daily stimulus” with which he will learn and understand the world.

Vinod Menon is the psychiatrist and neurologist who directed this study. According to her experience and the results seen in this work, the emotional impact that a mother’s voice has on a child’s brain is greater than that of anyone else’s. It is an almost instinctive bond that grows from pregnancy.

Let’s look at it in detail.

Life in the womb: a whole world of sounds to discover

The mother’s womb is not a silent place. In fact, it is known that the ability of this medium to transmit sounds is much more intense than air.

• Fetuses listen to every sound that happens around them, and there is a voice that accompanies them every day and every moment: the maternal voice.

• The formation of the auditory pavilions starts in the first weeks. Little by little they will mature until they are located on both sides of the face, but it is known that they are already receptive to certain sounds.

• You will be surprised to learn that the mother’s uterus is capable of receiving sounds at an intensity that is between 50 and 60 decibels. It’s like being face to face with a person having a normal conversation.

• Interestingly, the type of sound that is best heard in the uterus is the one with a higher frequency. Therefore, any female voice will be more stimulating to the fetus.

Mom’s voice helps us grow

After nine months inside the mother, when the baby arrives in the world, he perfectly recognizes his mother’s voice, it is no stranger to him.

Few things are as suited to reducing a baby’s stress, crying, or fear as a mother’s voice comforting her in a quiet, affectionate tone. It is at this moment that this very powerful hormone, oxytocin, is released, a key part of strengthening the bond between mother and child and calming the cortisol in the blood.

• According to the work done at Stanford University, the maternal voice is capable of activating multiple neural circuits at the same time, and this is so because there really is such an intense emotional union created between them.

• All of this will make the baby begin to better control his emotions, understand how the reward process works, recognize faces and gradually develop his social and language skills.

If we establish regular, respectful and stimulating communication with our children from the womb, all this will make them more competent in language development.

And you see, it’s not just your language skills that will benefit. Something as essential as talking without screaming, always keeping the same tone of voice, being receptive as well as respectful, will make this child much more skilled at socializing, expressing their emotions and integrating into the world.

Nor should we forget that language is precisely what makes us human. That’s why it’s vital that we understand that before a child starts talking, he understands a lot more than we can imagine. Your eyes and your ears and your whole brain are tremendously receptive to everything around you.

The maternal voice is that caress that alleviates his fears at night, that brings him smiles in the morning and that strengthens his self-esteem every day with this tone of closeness, affection and respect. Let’s make use of it, talk to your baby every day.