Give Your Baby A Head Start
Support brain development and boost your baby’s future intelligence
Just a few weeks into your pregnancy, possibly even before you know you are pregnant, your baby’s brain starts to develop. It’s a complex process that lasts throughout your pregnancy.
By the second trimester, your baby’s brain begins to control several body functions, including the first basic movements of breathing. When you feel your baby move at between 18 and 21 weeks, you’ll know these were initiated by baby’s growing brain!
The brain grows rapidly in the third trimester, almost tripling in weight during this period. At birth, a newborn’s brain looks like a small version of the adult brain, about a quarter of the size, but in fact, development continues into adulthood, to around 25 years of age.
Best Start for Brain Development
Practising healthy living and maintaining this throughout your pregnancy, is the best start you can give your baby – and it’s essential for healthy brain development. This includes eating a balanced diet with foods from all five food groups, getting exercise, adequate sleep and coping with stress. You should also include 400mcg (micrograms) of folic acid (vitamin B9) in your diet every day to help prevent defects of the neural tube, the earliest structures that form the brain and spinal cord. Leafy greens, legumes, citrus fruits, nuts and seeds are good dietary sources of folic acid.
Ask your healthcare provider to prescribe a prenatal multivitamin supplement. Find out from your medical aid if they cover any prenatal vitamins during your pregnancy. These supplements are formulated for pregnant women and will contain folic acid at the correct dosage. Find out if your medical aid covers prenatal vitamins during your pregnancy.
There are a number of factors that can harm a baby’s developing brain. These include infections from diseases, damage caused by chemicals like taking unsafe medications, street drugs, drinking alcohol and smoking. Prolonged periods of intense stress on an expectant mother (severe, not everyday stress), can also impact foetal brain development.
Don’t drink alcohol or use street drugs during pregnancy. If you need to take prescription or over-the-counter (OTC) medication, check with your healthcare provider if the medication is safe. If you are still smoking, consider quitting for yours and your baby’s health.
Best Start for Intelligence
Scientists once believed that a child’s intelligence was determined only by the genes they received from their parents. However, through research, we now know that hereditary only accounts for about 50% of a child’s IQ (intelligence quotient that measures the ability to reason and solve problems). The remaining 50% is influenced by the baby’s environment.
What You Can Do
The womb is your baby’s very first environment. So, does this mean you can influence your baby’s future intelligence? Possibly, say scientists. Some practices can have a positive impact, while others are myths. Like the so-called ‘Mozart Effect’, where expectant moms were encouraged to play Mozart’s compositions to their unborn babies in an effort to boost intelligence. The practice was hugely popular but proved to be false.
You may not grow a super smart baby by playing classic tunes, but there are other ways to boost your baby’s brain development – and they’re backed by science.
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Play music
Not one type of music or a specific composer… any music you enjoy. Listening to music can be relaxing and if it relaxes mom, it’s positive for baby too.
Benefits
A research study found that babies who were repeatedly played Twinkle Twinkle Little Star in utero recognised the tune after birth. If you do play a regular tune, your baby may react positively to it after birth and it could help to calm them.
Want to try? There is no need to purchase expensive belly headphones, just play your favourite music as you normally would. Keep the volume at a medium level.
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Talk, read or sing to baby
Your baby begins to hear sounds from around week 16. Your voice is conducted through your body, so the sound is amplified in the womb and yours is the first voice baby will start to recognise. All sounds both inside your own body (like your heartbeat and digestive system), and sounds from the environment, contribute to baby getting used to sounds from the outside world.
Benefits
By regularly communicating with your baby in the womb, you already start the bonding process. Talking to baby lays important foundations for language and future learning.
Want to try? Talk or sing to your baby every day. Encourage your partner to join in so baby can learn their voice too. It’s never too early to start reading aloud to baby. Purchase some early childhood books and read to baby whenever you like.
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Get your omega-3s
It’s essential that your developing baby receives all the nutrients needed for growth and development. Omega-3 fatty acids, essential fats that your body cannot make, are needed for your baby’s brain development. ‘Essential’ means we need it to survive and the only way to get it is through our diets. Prenatal multivitamin supplements usually include omega-3s. If you aren’t yet taking a multivitamin supplement, ask your healthcare provider to prescribe one for you. Find out if your medical aid covers prenatal vitamins during your pregnancy.
Benefits
Omega-3s support your baby’s brain and eye development. Research has also linked DHA and EPA (two type of Omega-3s from animal sources) to baby’s cognitive development, the mental processes needed to gain and understand knowledge. The dosage recommendation for pregnant women is 300mg per day, of which 200mg should be DHA.
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Get exercise
Pregnant women are advised to get regular exercise during pregnancy. This will help to boost your fitness levels in preparation for labour and delivery, and it’s also a great way to reduce fatigue. Endorphins (feel good hormones) are released into your bloodstream during exercise and they boost your mood.
Benefits
Research shows that regular exercise can boost your baby’s brain development. One research study found that when moms exercised for at least 20 minutes per day, three times a week, their newborns had higher levels of brain activity, indicating better brain maturity. Scientists are still exploring the reasons why but believe it may be related to chemicals released during exercise.
Want to try? Choose a safe exercise for pregnancy like walking, prenatal yoga, jogging, dancing and swimming. Avoid any activity where your belly can get bumped, or where you may take a fall. Aim for around 30 minutes of moderate exercise on most days of the week. Please check with your healthcare provider before you start.
Future development
Supporting your baby’s brain development doesn’t stop at birth. In fact, a newborn’s brain is still a work in progress. Significant development takes place in the first five years and has an important impact on your child’s ability to learn later in the childhood years. Babies learn through play, interactions with people and experiences. Enrich this essential development phase by providing a stimulating and safe environment for your baby to thrive in.
Contact your midwife or healthcare professional for support.
Resources: https://www.healthline.com/;https://flo.health/; https://www.verywellfamily.com/; https://www.webmd.com/; https://www.motherandbaby.co.uk/; https://my.clevelandclinic.org/; https://www.eurekalert.org/; https://www.babycenter.com/; https://www.whattoexpect.com/; https://americanpregnancy.org/; https://www.tommys.org/; https://www.mayoclinic.org/; https://www.newscientist.com; https://www.heart.org/; https://www.firstthingsfirst.org/; https://kidshealth.org/;
