Subscribe I am meant to play this one for another week and then start working backwards through the last four The
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I am meant to play this one for another week and then start working backwards through the last four The baby is moving a lot when the tape is on. Can such a thing really have any effect? Is it a waste of money? If it does work, will I regret it? Will this child be so advanced it can't relate to children of its own age?26 August - 36 weeksI have reached the final lesson. They sound like a BBC sound effect for galloping horses.21 July - 31 weeksMy dedication to the tapes has slipped: I tend to play them for one hour a day in one go, instead of morning and night.My first daughter was a very bright, lively baby and I didn't use the tapes with her. Scan tomorrow.17 June - 26 weeksFrom the scan they think we are having a girl, but they can't tell for sure because the baby had its legs closed! I begin thinking of names: Betty? Laura? The tapes are getting faster and faster.
Apparently when the sounds have passed though my abdomen they sound exactly like my blood surging past the womb, except with more rhythm I can see the baby's movements from the outside now. Although we did have a bit of a laugh about the baby meeting all the other little graduates at a drinks party: "Oh really? I graduated in 1993 ..."3 June - 24 weeksThe tapes are a good way of ensuring you stay still for certain parts of the day, although I sometimes do other things like washing-up. My parents have come to stay so I have had to tell them about the tapes, with a strict warning not to ridicule the idea. The baby is much more active and kicking a lot, but whether this is coincidence I don't know. I'm not yet at ease with the idea of using it myself, let alone letting everyone else in on the joke.20 May - 22 weeksThe tape's drum-beat sounds are becoming faster and more intricate.
It is a strange alien sound: slow, rhythmic beats on a drum machine, a bit like a Luther Vandross number.Prenatal learning is something so new to us in Britain. (I once did an intensive course of similar length myself, but I was 21 at the time.)I began my baby's first lesson after "verbally preparing it for learning" as primed, although I declined the invitation to say "Good morning my little one; it's playtime again, and Mommy has some new sounds for you." I could hear the tape quite clearly, which made me worry whether it was too loud for the baby. According to the instructions, I am to play one tape per week for one hour every morning and one hour every night until I am 36 weeks pregnant and then work backwards, putting my baby through a revision course leading to "B Day". The belt contains the speakers which transmit sounds to the womb; there is a special socket to link them up to my personal stereo.Apparently the sounds start off simple and become more complex as the moment of birth approaches. It contained 16 tapes - the prenatal learning programme - and a fabric belt with Velcro endings which will expand as I get bigger. In the updated version, the sounds are activated by a series of buttons and no personal stereo is needed.)Here are some extracts from my diary at the time:6 May - 20 weeks pregnantToday I received a neat brown-paper package.
(At that time, the sonic device was less sophisticated: it had to be attached to a personal stereo and came with a series of audiocassette tapes. But having lost my first daughter to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, I was overcome with the desire to do everything I could for this baby - and this was one of the few things I could do, other than making sure I ate all the right foods.So I became one of the first British parents to try the prenatal learning programme. I could visualise the graduation ceremony: a queue of babies dressed in nothing but mortar boards and nappies.So I didn't make an instant decision to go for the cardiac curriculum. Although interested, I had my doubts: the US-style literature put me off with its talk of newborn babies emerging from the womb recognising their mother's voice, turning and immediately crying "Mama".Nor was my scepticism helped by the knowledge that little "prelearners" are entitled to a personal diploma on completion of the course. Dr Logan also says it leads to greater intelligence, social and creative skills and a better academic performance.I first learnt about prenatal learning when I was 16 weeks pregnant and devouring books about parenthood. Dr Logan claims this "cardiac curriculum" stimulates the developing brain and so enhances the baby's intellectual potential.The theory behind prenatal learning is that about 50 per cent of all foetal brain cells atrophy before the moment of birth, so it is important to grab them early if the child is to be born with "enhanced mental architecture". Used from a foetal age of about 20 weeks, the programme will, it is claimed, increase alertness and curiosity in the newborn, result in a longer attention span and increase physical strength.