Early brain development during pregnancy is a topic that is getting quite a bit of attention. This does not exactly guarantee a highly academic baby, but it does suggest that a baby can be more calm, can nurse more readily and later in life be more school ready. These babies have an improved sleeping schedule. There infant growth assessments are better. Watch the video about a family who used the BabyPlus Prenatal Education System and hear what they have to say.

Expectant mothers and pregnancy are our specialty here at BabyPlus!  Having a smart baby is great, but having a great infant sleeping schedule is (at times!) just as important

Here at the BabyPlus Company we know the prenatal development facts.  We know the importance of infant development.  We know the womb is NOT a "soundproof booth."  We know that the mother's heartbeat sounds are the only sounds a developing baby truly recognizes.

The ideas of prenatal care and a prenatal care curriculum seem to be ever growing.  The articles on prenatal development are many.  What is not disputed is the idea of baby development and baby stimulation after birth.  The amazing information for first-time parents is that learning actually begins IN THE WOMB.  We already know! 

We have often been asked by women researching expectant mothers and pregnancy whether the BabyPlus Education Prenatal System will assist in the cognitive development of twins and triplets.  The answer to this is "yes".  We have had many mothers of twins and triplets use BabyPlus.  They have all been pleased with the results and have seen the same benefits  (enhanced infant sleeping schedule, proficiency in breast feeding, self soothing ability and improved school readiness) as the mothers of single babies.

Frequently, twins and triplets are born early and the mothers of babies who were not full term have seen amazing results.  We have had mothers of premature babies report that their babies are reaching milestones based on their birth age as opposed to their gestational age.  They have also reported shorter than average hospital stays as compared to other premature babies.

Kate White, Director of HR and Operations at the Jarrett Fertility Group writes:
"Our 15 year old fraternal twin daughters, Mary Ann and Christine, were born 5 weeks premature and have thrived since birth.  They both achieved every infant and toddler milestone on time or early.  They were both early proficient readers- before the start of kindergarten.  Their learning skills and academic strengths, kindergarten through 8th grade, were superlative.  Today, they are both High Honor students in their freshman class and are both recipients of a monetary academic scholarships based on their freshman placement tests.  In addition to academics, they are both accomplished in music (singing and piano) and are both above average athletes.  They (and their little sister Julia, also a BabyPlus beneficiary) are emotionally mature for their age.  Julia has also exhibited the same developmental attributes as the twins.  We sincerely believe that the early use of the BabyPlus curriculum helped their development and will continue to help them throughout life."

What are the most critical times in child development? Answer…… all times. I must preface with an however, the earlier the start, the better. In your first pregnancy first-time parents are never really sure what to do, and not have had the exposure as to whether or not there will be a proper infant sleeping schedule that develops down the road, or if they are going to be exhausted as first time parents.
 There are so many prenatal development facts to consider, which can be overwhelming. Are there really benefits of infant stimulation, is breast feeding beneficial to having a smart baby and infant development. As days go by and the week by week pregnancy progresses, it all begins to make sense, and then the special day comes when the little miracle is brought into this world.
Following the birth, after that day by day pregnancy is finally done, you can then begin to access what the critical times in child development are and if  you did in fact do some of the correct things during the critical period in Prenatal development. So, baby stimulation and baby development after birth may all tie directly in, but most likely begins during those critical periods in prenatal development.

Expectant mothers and overwhelmed dads, the BabyPlus prenatal care curriculum will help tremendously. 

I was at the pediatrician's office on Saturday morning, and I was thrilled to see a BabyPlus baby there.  She is actually the daughter of one of the pediatricians in the practice, and the nurses raved and raved about what a wonderful baby she is.  They see first-hand the benefits of infant stimulation.  Another doctor in the practice has decided to use it based on seeing this baby!  Little BabyPlus Baby was smiling, laughing, and cooing the entire time I was there.  According to the nurses, she entertains herself for long periods of time in her bouncy seat.  The doctors, nurse practitioner, and nurses said they recommend BabyPlus to the patients in the practice.  My pediatrician was thrilled with her infant sleeping schedule, too.  BabyPlus babies self-soothe, so great sleeping habits are already formed.  Another confirmation of what we strongly believe here at BabyPlus!

BabyPlus - not a new idea - the Chinese have been doing it for thousands of years!

We have often been asked whether the BabyPlus curriculum is a new invention.  The research behind BabyPlus was actually done over twenty years ago.  However, the concept of prenatal learning is quite old.  It has its roots in ancient Chinese culture. The Chinese did not know the scientific reasons why what they called "Taikyo" helped their infants' brain development.  But they did think that this practice was helpful during the period of prenatal development.  The following is a more scientific explanation of why auditory stimulation is important during the critical period in prenatal development.

The ancient Chinese used to perform what they called Taikyo during pregnancy.  In essence, Taikyo involved talking and singing to their unborn children and patting on their expectant tummies. All of these practices are differing forms of auditory stimulation for the prenatal child. Expectant parents believed that Taikyo would result in having a smarter baby and provide them with an intellectual and emotional head-start.  As in so many things, it now seems that the ancient Chinese knew something it would take modern science thousands of years to prove.  Parents of all cultures have talked, sung, and played music to their unborn children for centuries. For most, this has been little more than a way to bond with their child before they are born.  But science is now discovering that there are many benefits of infant stimulation. 

According to Fred J. Schwartz, M.D., "a significant amount of learning takes place in the uterus. There is no doubt that intrauterine auditory stimuli contribute a large part of this environment.  Evidence points to the fact that learning extends back into the prenatal period, and that the sounds and rhythms in the womb may contain information important to early brain development during pregnancy.  The newborn can differentiate a recording of his own mother's prenatal womb sounds from a recording of another mother." Dr. Schwartz continues, "There is a vast amount of potential information available to the fetus that can be given in the playing of just one musical note or in singing or talking a single syllable.   The content of this sound is full of information and emotion.  These communicative processes which take place before and after birth contribute to the promotion of the child's physical development, behavioral characteristics, and level of intelligence.

The (connections) in the prenatal brain, as well as the infant brain, undergo learning dependant reorganization.  This process involves synaptic pruning, the regression of neural circuits, as well as the synaptic sprouting (development of new connections) of the developing brain.”  In the normal course of prenatal events, there is a substantial reduction in neurons and synaptic connections that occurs during the last trimester as well as a more modest reduction during childhood.  This is consistent with the observation of psychologists that infants and children may have enhanced behavioral abilities that diminish later in life.  Since fetal hearing is probably the major component of this learning dependent synaptic pruning and sprouting, the prenatal child is participating in a 2nd and 3rd trimester auditory amphitheater that is perhaps more important than any other classroom."

If an increased number of neurons (brain cells) and their beginning connections (axons and dendrites) are engaged during their most plastic and receptive developmental stage - the period of prenatal development - greater strength in the structure will result, much like exercising a muscle.  The goal of prenatal stimulation is to withstand the normal process by which 75-90% of all fetal brain cells atrophy (die) before birth.  No more brain cells are ever added - once a cell atrophies it is gone forever and all the active brain cells a person will ever have are present at birth.  By reducing fetal brain cell death, prenatal stimulation results in infants being born with enhanced mental architecture - a greater amount of brain material producing brain waves that function at a significantly more mature rate. Throughout life, this early advantage means the child will be better able to absorb and appreciate far more of its environment than a child who did not receive this advantage.

Dr. Marian Diamond has demonstrated that the offspring of rats reared in an enriched prenatal environment perform significantly better than other pups.  She has also shown that the cortex of the brain is thicker in these animals than in those without prenatal enrichment.
 
"Your baby's world inside the womb prepares her for life outside by providing a wide range of experiences that are crucial to her cognitive and sensory development.  During the last trimester, she's eavesdropping on your conversations, discerning the differences between male and female voices, and monitoring your moods.  In fact, during the final months, most of your baby's movements - as well as increases in her heart rate - are in response to specific noises, touches, changes in light, and other sensations.  At 32 weeks, an unborn baby will remember a piece of music that she hears and will be able to recognize it after birth.  In fact, after listening to this tune for some time in the womb, your baby will start "keeping the beat" by moving her body in sync with the music."

"It's exactly what we're talking about, says Rob Reiner (actor, director, and founder of the I Am Your Child Foundation), noting the now-or-never importance of nurturing from the earliest times.  It's no more possible to make up for lost opportunities in early brain development than to take a 21-year-old whose growth has been stunted by malnutrition and to expect by giving him a wonderfully nutritious diet from then on to have him become a strapping 6-footer.  Electrical connections get made in the brain during these early periods that don't get made later on.  As far as anybody knows, there's no way to fix it if it's not done at the beginning."

There are a number of systems and approaches available for prenatal auditory enrichment, ranging from classical music to the prenatal curriculum developed by Dr. Brent Logan, the modern day pioneer in this field.  Dr. Logan's BabyPlus Prenatal Education System is clearly the most developmentally appropriate, scientifically advanced and well-studied approach.  Dr. Logan's research has demonstrated the extraordinary postnatal benefits of the BabyPlus curriculum:  infants are born more alert and calm; they have earlier parental voice recognition and are strong at self-soothing leading to development of better early infant sleeping schedules; these children are proficient at early breast feeding, have longer attention spans and reach developmental milestones at younger ages as measured by various infant growth assessment tests (CLAMS and Vineland Social Maturity Scale). He has also shown that these infants demonstrate improved stress management and most profoundly, enjoy improved school readiness and stronger learning proficiency later in life. Further information about the benefits of prenatal auditory enrichment is available in the book Super Baby: Boost Your Baby's Potential from Conception to Year One by Sarah Brewer, M.D. (Thorsons, London), or on the web site www.babyplus.com.

A conscientious expectant mother today is certain to provide the proper nutritional environment for her developing child during the prenatal months. With her child’s long term physical development in mind, a responsible mother takes a prenatal vitamin and makes conscientious dietary choices. Similarly, the foundation for a child’s long-term brain development is being laid during these very same months. It now seems that a child’s long-term cognitive and learning skills can indeed be strengthened by certain safe, developmentally appropriate sounds.  The optimization of a child’s earliest environment actually encompasses not the “0 to 3” years we frequently read about, but truly “prenatal to 3” years of age.

This world we live in, and more importantly the world that our children will navigate, is becoming more complex and demanding.  As a society, we are obligated to strengthen our children for the future.  The best gift we as parents can individually bestow to our children is improved early school readiness and strong learning skills for their lifetime. It is time to revisit Taikyo.  

I am the Director of Development at the BabyPlus Company and working here is so much fun. I meet the most amazing parents and babies. The other day I was sent to New York to interview and video a BabyPlus family. Mom used the BabyPlus Prenatal Education System for all 3 of her children. At first they were skeptical about the benefits of infant stimulation. Their week by week pregnancy was filled with hope and anticipation about the benefits of learning in the womb. but with the birth of their first child all they hoped for came true. Their little girl's infant growth assessments were very high and her infant sleeping schedule was all a parent could hope for. Mom says breast feeding was a breeze. The infant development of all 3 of their children was the same. Mom and Dad are so glad that they were able to  something for their children during the most critical period in prenatal development.

But the most amazing part of this story is that dad was a New York police officer. He was at work on the morning of 9/11 and was just being dispatched down to Manhattan when the call came to his precinct that his wife was in labor. Now this was their first pregnancy and his Sargent of course told him to go to the hospital. They lost many friends that day, but they also experienced the one of the most wonderful days of their lives,the birth of their first child. They call her their guardian angel.

Click on www.babyplus.com and watch the video, It is truly an interesting story.

Helen

Infant Sleeping Schedule

Prenatal sleep states remain undisturbed by BabyPlus stimulation.

Expectant mothers and fathers have asked how their baby will sleep once born.  We understand that the idea of baby stimulation could lead to that question.  BabyPlus babies have wonderful sleep patterns; plus, they have an increased ability to self-sooth.

The sound level to the baby is strictly controlled for both pitch and volume.  Dr. Brent Logan spent 25 years studying the normal environment of the developing baby, and BabyPlus is carefully designed to present sounds for the prenatal infant at a very safe but audible level. 

The baby hears the sounds of its mother's heartbeat at approximately 95 decibels, as loud as a rock band, constantly. Moreover, normal sounds in a mother's environment--television, radio, loud remarks, traffic--reach the fetus at volumes similar to that of her heartbeat yet the baby still sleeps through this noise most of the time, even though its brain is always monitoring these sounds. 

BabyPlus is designed to produce an external sound of about  90 to 95  decibels, which is then reduced by 30-35 decibels as it is filtered through the mother's abdominal wall, reaching the unborn infant at  60-65 decibels, well below the sound level of the mother's blood.  BabyPlus therefore has a scientifically engineered sound ceiling which is always less that the natural sonic environment of the womb.  More than 150,000+ families worldwide have attested to its safety and effectiveness. 

Over stimulation does not occur because, like the maternal blood pulse, this sound is so familiar to the developing baby.  The tones are natural, and the sound level is appropriate. 

Remember - the womb is not a "soundproof booth."  Your baby is hearing everything all day long.  The purpose of prenatal stimulation is to use a sound your baby is very familiar with - the mother's heartbeat - during the critical period in prenatal development. 

Another follow up - this is a 2 1/2 year old.

(these are the original comments)

"Your product is great. We have a 21 month old. I used Baby Plus for several months morning and night. Our son came out so alert and ready to take on the world. He nursed well too.  He is ahead of his classmates in some areas and some people think he is 3 years old.

Last night we were sitting in his room and remembered that we used Baby Plus. I had forgotten all about it. We wonder if it is the reason he is such a fun and happy baby."

(these are her current observations)

"He is almost 2 1/2. He can count to 20, knows several letters by site (not memorization).  He even counts up to 10 in Spanish. He knows so many words I can't even count them.  Puts together sentences well and is in the middle of potty training. He sleeps well 5 nights a week. Usually 2 nights he has teething issues or a car wakes him up or something.
 
He loves to be outside. We hear many times how Reese is advanced. People think he is 4.

My husband wanted me to tell you about how Reese completes sen tenses and has a great memory. He can go somewhere once and then 2 months later we drive by and he points and says what it is. It is incredible."

No matter how many articles parents read about prenatal development, we can never fully know if we are giving our babies the best.  That is why the BabyPlus Prenatal Education System is so beneficial.  You are giving your child a lifelong gift during the critical period in prenatal development.  We have parents who journal about the stages through pregnancy.  Imagine being able to tell your child the amazing gift you gave him/her before she was even born!

Today’s expectant mother intuitively knows that her child’s physical development begins during the crucial prenatal months.  Taking a prenatal vitamin to enrich a child’s nutritional environment is today a very common and well understood way to provide supplemental and beneficial nutrients during a child’s prenatal physical development.

It is also well understood that a child’s brain development begins during the prenatal months.  Educators, scientists, criminologists and physicians alike have long ago acknowledged the vital importance of a healthy and enriched prenatal environment as it pertains to the brain development of a child.

An expectant mother’s uterus is not a ‘sound proof booth’.  A developing child can certainly hear many of the sounds and noises in her mother’s environment.  However, even though a prenatal child’s hearing is fully functioning by the 16th week of pregnancy, there is only one true and consistent auditory language in a child’s prenatal environment.  For the duration of pregnancy, this consistent language heard 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, is the natural, simple, and repetitive sound of the mother’s heartbeat. 

With this basic knowledge, Dr. Brent Logan, a developmental psychologist, began his work developing and testing a natural prenatal “curriculum”, one that would provide optimal auditory enrichment by encouraging simple sound discrimination during the most significant developmental period of the child’s life, the prenatal months.

The goal of prenatal stimulation is to increase the number of brain cells the child has at birth.  It is estimated that 75 to 90 percent of all brain cells a child forms during these prenatal months do not survive through birth.  Prenatal stimulation results in the child being born with strengthened mental architecture, similar to the additional strength created by regularly exercising a muscle.

Over the past two decades, parents, educators and physicians continue to document that the use of The BabyPlus Prenatal Education System is profoundly beneficial in a child’s long term development.  Children who have experienced the BabyPlus System are more alert from birth, nurse better, sleep better, have longer attention spans as they mature and are more prepared for school.

Each year, the U.S. legislature votes to spend billions of dollars on funding daycare and early learning programs for our children.  We do this because we know that the earlier we are able to positively impact a child, the greater and longer lasting the benefits will be.  

On a daily basis I have the good fortune to see, hear and read of the benefits realized in children when the BabyPlus Prenatal Education System has been used.  Based upon years of research and testing, it has been scientifically proven to provide the most beneficial prenatal stimulation, and it is simple and safe to use.  I have four children of my own who benefited from BabyPlus. I believe It is truly a gift that all expectant mothers should give to their children.

Sincerely,
Lisa Jarrett
President and Founder
The BabyPlus Company

Parents and researchers, alike, have observed and measured the benefits associated with the BabyPlus Prenatal Education curriculum.  Babies that have enjoyed this prenatal curriculum are born more relaxed and alert.  Typically, their eyes and hands are open at birth.  These infants are more responsive and interactive and are visibly ready to absorb and appreciate their environment.  Parents report that these babies nurse more readily and self-soothe more easily.

Parents also report that, if their care giving skills are consistent, the regular sleep/wake cycle of their baby becomes quite consistent at an early age in the infant’s life. There is also documented scientific evidence that the immune system of an infant who sleeps well and sleeps regularly is actually stronger.  Additionally, an obvious side benefit of a well-rested baby is a well-rested parent!

There is a distinct positive motor effect that is experienced by the prenatal baby as a result of his or her physical interaction to a prenatal education curriculum.  Arm and leg movements that occur in response to the BabyPlus rhythms may last up to 20 minutes during a one hour prenatal education session. This physical activity can have a beneficial influence upon the baby’s blood-oxygen levels.

Babies that have benefited from prenatal learning are reported to reach early childhood milestones, such as the ability to point to body parts on command, walk and talk, etc. ahead of their peers.  Utilizing such milestone assays as the Clinical Linguistic Auditory Milestone Scale (CLAMS test) and the Wechsler (school readiness test), these children have shown an increased attention span and measurably improved school readiness.  Parents have also reported that BabyPlus children exhibit greater creativity and independence.  All of these traits result as a combination of both genetics and an enriching early environment. Strong thinking children are more successful in school and in life.

Prenatal learning does not create a “genius baby” anymore than a prenatal vitamin creates a “bodybuilder.”  The prenatal months of early development are simply the right time to strengthen the foundation for learning.