Bonding with your baby starts during pregnancy

One of the most important conversations we like to have is the importance of building a lovely relationship with your baby while you're still pregnant.

What things can you and your partner – or in fact the whole family – be doing to start building that relationship with your baby?

Talking

Talk to your baby and respond to their movements. Sometimes having those conversations can make you feel a little self-conscious, but your growing baby can hear you speak and will respond to your tone of voice. This will help with their brain development too!

As well as helping your baby to grow, it helps you too! When you think of your baby or speak to your baby and especially when you feel those kicks and punches, it can increase the amount of happy hormone you make – something called OXYTOCIN. Oxytocin helps a mother to fall in love with her baby and plays a huge part in supporting breastfeeding too. The NHS website has some great information about the age and stage of your baby’s development. 

Singing and reading

As well as talking, sing to your baby, read to your baby, and talk about what you are getting up to during the day. Involving your unborn baby in your every day life will make them real and help you to imagine your life with them. It will help you to fall in love and build a bond with them.

Get your partner and family involved

Your partner can get just as involved too! That happy hormone we spoke about? Your partner will make that too and being involved with talking, singing, and reading to your unborn baby will again help to build that relationship between you all. If you have older children, get them involved too. Maybe your toddler or child can read to their new brother or sister or get to touch your bump when baby is moving. The baby will get to hear their voices and recognise them, so that when they are born, these voices will be familiar and reassuring to them. Check out the Dadpad app - it provides lots of information for Dads.

The same goes for your extended family. Being involved helps them to imagine life with their niece/nephew or grandchild and will help build those connections.

All that positive interaction, happy hormone making and love will encourage lots of brain development in your baby. It will help your baby adjust to the outside world and make them feel secure and nurtured.

If you have any questions about this topic or any other health and wellbeing concerns, please give us a call or drop us an email. Our Health Visiting duty lines are open every weekday between 9am-4.30pm:

Bracknell: 0300 365 6000 or email dutyhvbracknell@berkshire.nhs.uk
Wokingham: 0300 365 7000 or email: DutyHVWokingham@berkshire.nhs.uk
Reading: 0118 931 2111 or email HVWBRDGDuty@berkshire.nhs.uk
West Berkshire: 0300 303 3944 or email: HVWBRDGDuty@berkshire.nhs.uk   

Your West Berkshire Breastfeeding Support is Joanne.Roberts@westberks.gov.uk 01189456157