Can babies learn in the womb?

Babies grow and develop in the womb for nine long months. Their little hands and feet form and grow and begin to move. Their brain too is developing into the most complex organ known to man. We take it for granted that at birth the baby begins to learn, but does the baby begin to learn even before this - in the womb?

Learning is a common enough word and we use it all the time. You may say, "My son learnt his spelling". Think about it; what does learning involve? Generally educationalists refer to two components.

The first of these is a process in which the learner is receiving and sorting information. A child would receive the information showing the spelling homework in written form. The child's brain processes the information and makes some sense of it.

The second component of learning is change. If the child now has the ability to spell the word, learning has taken place. The change may lead to an action, i.e. writing the word and an increase in knowledge. This is the outcome of the learnt behaviour.

So when someone learns there is process and outcome.

It is clear that once born, babies learn at a great rate. But do they actually learn anything in the womb?

Interesting research has been carried out in the Netherlands with sound to see if babies will react to noise. The researchers found that the first time a foetus hears a noise it will react by moving. When the same sound is played again after an interval of 10 minutes on different occasions, the foetus will not react. The unborn baby has got used to the sound. The baby has processed the information and, having learnt to use its short-term memory, recognises the particular sound. What if, though, the sound is played again after a longer interval of say 24 hours. Will the foetus be able to learn using its long-term memory? The answer is "yes". Remarkably, babies in the womb have a functional memory.

A foetus recognises its mother's voice. The foetus will learn the mother's sound - not the actual word though. The foetus will often react to music for example. Try a bit of soothing music or even Beethoven if you dare.

Babies in the womb also learn food flavours and this will influence later food preferences. Apparently babies learn to recognise strong flavours in particular, through the mother's amniotic fluid.

Never underestimate the learning ability of your child - even if it's still in the womb.

Mr Wilson is deputy headmaster at St Edward's College. For feedback please send an e-mail to dirofstudies@stedwards.edu.mt or visit www.stedwards.edu.mt