Babies recognize voices before they are born
Long before birth, human fetuses recognize and prefer familiar voices, especially their mother's, showcasing the remarkable beginnings of social and language development in the womb.
Human fetuses begin to hear sounds around 18-20 weeks into pregnancy, as their auditory system develops. By the third trimester, approximately 28-30 weeks, they can distinguish between different voices and even prefer familiar ones, like their mother's. Research from the 1980s showed newborns recognized stories read repeatedly in the womb, sucking more vigorously on pacifiers when hearing them.
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