INTELLIGENT PARENTING This covers a much overlooked part of pregnancy, viz parenting during pregnancy ... yes, parenting begins during pregnancy and you will find some interesting ideas here on getting a headstart with parenting.

Learning in the Womb

Orientation in Time and Space

This is the sense of your body in time and space, the position of your joints and limbs and processing of information such as touch, pressure, temperature and pain. This is through the sensory receptors on the skin, the vestibular system formed in your ears, and other receptors in the joints.

The development of these receptors are functional in as early as the 15th week of gestation and your baby knows how he is oriented in your water bag, she can know when you are in the summer heat or in the cool winters. She can already perceive the seasonal changes or the atmosphere of the hilly place you have gone for a holiday to.

Isn’t this astonishing?

Now what can you do?

• I can say again that give loving touches to your baby again and again; even the father is and should be in this as much as you.  How? Remember that your unborn child is as responsive to your touch to the abdomen as a 1-2 year old child. The need is also as much, In fact, when you go for an ultrasound in the 4th and 5th month, you can see him thumb sucking, touching his face, kicking and moving his arms and you may even detect a faint trace of that smile that you will be bound to forever henceforth in your life.
  
• The feeling of touch is very important and it has been said that a person cannot thrive on love alone but would surely wilt away if not exposed to touch anytime.

An experiment was done whereby, a group of plants were shouted at and abused everyday, but was also watered and given nourishment. In spite of this they stared wilting away. After a few days, the same things were continued but they were given a loving touch on their leaves and stems. They soon came back to life. If this is the status of plants, imagine a fetus or even you.

• The best form of touch therapy is massage which can be done by a professional or even by yourself.
  
• It has been proved that yoga and aerobic exercises have been beneficial not only to you but also for your baby, his kinesthetic senses develops from this time onwards and he makes efforts to adjust his postures with yours and your movements makes him move too. Your baby is also smart, so smart that he adjusts himself in your womb by kicking around and finds himself a comfortable position to nestle in.
  
• Do a lot of activities that you are allowed to do and keep in mind that your baby is involved in the same things too. Although the acts of balancing like sitting and walking start much after birth, the seed has been sown now. Apart from genes, these are the other factors which may determine the time of his sitting, crawling, walking etc.