2/11/2024 0 Comments Hear your baby heartbeat![]() Eat a variety of safe fish (such as salmon, cod, shrimp, and tilapia), and avoid the four types of fish that have the highest amounts of mercury: swordfish, tilefish, shark, and king mackerel. Food and Drug Administration advises pregnant women to eat 8 to 12 ounces a week of low-mercury fish. To balance these risks and benefits, the U.S. Fish is full of healthy omega-3 fatty acids that help your baby's brain grow and develop, but some kinds also contain high levels of mercury – which has been linked to certain birth defects, including hearing loss. If you work in a very loud environment (say with noisy machinery or at loud events) you may want to ask your employer if you can work in a quieter location for the duration of your pregnancy. That's true even if you're wearing hearing protection, because the noise can still travel through your body to your baby's ears. It's best to avoid any noises louder than that, such as a rock concert or shooting range, as much as possible. Some experts recommend avoiding any routine noise louder than 115 decibels (about as loud as a chainsaw) while pregnant. There's some evidence that long-term exposure to very loud noise – like 8 hours a day, every day – can damage your baby's hearing. Tell all your health care providers (even your dentist) that you're pregnant, and talk to your doctor or midwife to make sure you're taking safe medications for pregnancy. ![]() Taking certain drugs during pregnancy, including some antibiotics, has been linked to hearing loss in babies. You can take steps to protect your baby's hearing such as: How to support your baby's hearing during pregnancy You and your partner don't need to do anything special to facilitate this. Sounds your baby hears in the womb contribute to hearing and brain development, which will continue once your baby is born. Research suggests babies in the womb may become more alert when they hear their mom talking or reading aloud. That's because the sound of your voice reverberates through your body when you speak. That said, your baby will hear your voice more clearly than all others. Plus, it's noisy inside your uterus – sounds from your breathing, heartbeat, and digestion are as loud to your baby as a washing machine. That's because they have to pass through multiple layers, including your skin and the wall of your uterus as well as the amniotic fluid. The noises and voices your baby hears from the outside world sound muffled. Your baby is ready to listen and respond to the sounds they'll hear as soon as they're born. By 32 to 35 weeks of pregnancy, the middle ear cavity, outer ear canal, and outside part of the ear are fully formed. ![]() This connection is made at about 16 weeks, when your baby may start to hear faint sounds. Around 12 weeks of pregnancy, specialized sound transmitters called hair cells spring up inside the cochlea and eventually connect to a nerve that sends sound impulses to the brain. A tube-like cavity that will become the middle ear begins to form around these structures. Around 8 weeks of pregnancy, the ear bones – tiny structures that vibrate and help process sounds – begin as small clumps of tissue that slowly harden over the coming weeks. The sacs then lengthen into a tube, and the main organ of hearing (cochlea) takes shape at the end. Soon they'll start to fold inward and form sacs just beneath the surface of your baby's skin. By 5 weeks of pregnancy, two small spots appear on either side of your baby's head – these eventually become the inner ears.
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