Relationship Building Starts in Pregnancy
The early relationship between you, your partner, family and your baby is really important. How you meet their needs and care for them, shapes how their brain develops. This is as true before they’re born, as when they arrive. In pregnancy your body provides your baby with security, oxygen and nutrients. Bonding emotionally with your baby is also something that grows as you feel them move and grow inside you
Your baby can hear you from at least 16 weeks, and perhaps earlier. You can try the following to nurture this bond;
❤️ Speak to your baby
❤️ Sing to your baby
❤️ Make smiley facial expressions
❤️Tell stories or read to your baby
Further information about attachment and bonding by clicking here. You can also access further useful information in your Ready, Steady, Baby Book or by clicking here.
After Birth
After birth, skin to skin contact immediately builds on the relationship already nurtured in pregnancy. Between birth and your baby’s first birthday, their brain more than doubles in weight and one of the most significant factors to influence this early brain development is your relationship with them.
This in turn improves the long-term emotional and social health of your baby. Remember you cannot spoil your baby with love or by giving them attention. Babies need to feel safe and secure by you meeting their needs and caring for them.
After your baby is born it is great to:
❤️ Make eye contact with your baby
❤️ Be aware of the tone, pitch and rhythm of your voice
❤️ Make smiley facial expressions
❤️ Use lots of gentle touch
❤️ Sing wee nursery rhymes (they don’t mind if you can’t sing!)
Babies who are regularly left to cry have been shown to have high levels of cortisol, which slows brain development, so crying needs to be responded to.
Babies love looking at the faces of their carers and will watch and follow faces. As they get older they will focus more and listen intently to your voice.