The Prenatal Classroom
Rene Van de Carr is one of the earliest pioneers of prenatal stimulation, and teaches parents how to stimulate their unborn babies through music and other exercises at his Prenatal University in California, USA.
In his book While You Are Expecting: Your Own Prenatal Classroom, he writes, "There is a critical time in an infant's development beginning at about five months into pregnancy. Interaction between the baby and its environment stimulates brain growth both before and after birth."
This is the fundamental principal on which he bases his program, developed in 1979 after his research showed how babies could benefit from prenatal stimulation. Since his initial research, Van de Carr, along with coauthor Marc Lehrer, has collected data on more than 3,000 children born after going through the Prenatal University program. His remarkable findings show the following about children who were stimulated before birth:
Time frame - The critical time window begins at five months into pregnancy and continues until the age of two.
Orientation - Babies who received prenatal stimulation were better able to deal with the world outside the womb.
Movements - Babies on the program were often more in control of their movements after birth.
Emotions - Thanks to prenatal stimulation, babies appeared more calm, alert, and happy.