Pregnancy Headphones Upgrade: The Fetal Sound System

Pregnancy headphones have just been taken to a whole new level. Vaginal speakers are now a thing that you can buy for a little over $100. So say goodbye to BellyBuds and hello to Babypod! It’s been referred to as a «musical tampon» because the latest in fetal sound system technology is a speaker that you connect to your iPod and then insert into your lady parts like a tampon. That’s right. It also has a jack so you can plug your headphones and listen right along with baby. This surprising new device is the brainchild of Dr. Marisa López-Teijó from Institut Marquès in Barcelona, Spain that sprang from a study she and her team at the institute recently published. The basic idea is that listening to music in utero will give babies a head start on their language skills.

Music Findings in the Studio

According to López-Teijó, «Our results show that the musical stimulus was significantly associated with a fetal response in the form of fetal mouth and tongue movements that was not observed during stimulation with vibration at a frequency considered to be within the fetus’ preferential auditory range, according to the literature.» She recommends that expectant moms start using them after the 16th week of pregnancy for 10-20 minutes a day.

López-Teijó developed a vaginal speaker system, rather than sticking with regular pregnancy headphones, because she believes that the abdominal wall muffles the sound too much for it to benefit the baby. She has found that, «By placing a speaker inside the vagina, we overcome the barrier formed by the abdominal wall and the baby can hear sounds with almost as much intensity and clarity as when emitted.»

Interesting data

Babypod made its public debut just before Christmas with a private concert by singer Soraya Arnelas before an audience of ten pregnant moms with Babypods in place. It was the first ever live concert for fetuses. It’s hard to say whether this is ridiculous or ingenious — only time will tell! There is some debate about the benefits of playing music for your unborn baby. Although most experts agree that the Mozart Effect is a myth, research has shown that music does have developmental benefits. One does have to wonder if vaginal speakers may be taking it too far — after all, babies have been doing just fine without a distortion-free sound system for centuries.

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