Whether prenatal exposure to music really helps babies develop faster is controversial, but that hasn’t stopped pregnant women from buying all kinds of devices to expose their fetuses to music—usually classical. (This is based on the equally controversial and dubious “Mozart Effect“, the claim that cognition in children and adults is improved–short term–by listening to classical music.) Previously, the prenatal musical speakers were strapped to the belly, like this one:
But of course how well can your fetus really hear Mozart when those glorious notes have to penetrate all of the abdomenal skin, tissue, fat, and uterine wall? Can such the fetus distinguish between J. S. Bach and P. D. Q. Bach, or between Mozart and Aerosmith? That’s crucial.
Never fear! As reported in the Guardian, you can bypass a lot of that annoying and muffling tissue by sticking the speaker right into the vagina! And a Spanish company, Babypod, has just the ticket: a vaginal speaker system that costs only US$132.85. Here’s the item and how you use it:
Look at how that sound gets right up to the baby’s ears, and how the baby is smiling as it hears The Magic Flute! Of course it may play hob with your urination, not to mention your sex life, but you use it for only a short time:
On its webpage, Babypod claims that it’s “the only device that has been demonstrated to stimulate the vocalization of babies before birth with music.” I wasn’t aware that babies could even vocalize before birth, being in liquid and all, but what do I know?
The Guardian gives more details (my emphasis):
The pale pink device, which costs 150 euros (£110), is controlled by a phone app but does not use Bluetooth. Parents-to-be can share their babies’ listening experience using split headphones which hang out of the vagina.
The Babypod, which has a top sound level of 54 decibels, is recommended for use from the 16th week of pregnancy, and for between 10-20 minutes a time – or around half the length of the average Joanna Newsom song.
Babypod was launched at the “first concert for foetuses ever held in the world” in which Soraya Arnelas, who finished 23rd in the 2009 Eurovision song contest, “serenaded” 10 pregnant women fitted with the speakers, singing Christmas carols.
Babypod reassures customers that the vibrations of the device do not adversely affect a foetus – “this is why sex toys are allowed in pregnancy”.
And here’s that Fetal Concert; apparently the singer’s music was transmitted directly into the vaginas of the audience. As she said, “I’ve never performed for such a young audience.”
I’m not sure I want to live in this world any more. . .
h/t: Grania
