Key Takeaways

A mother’s voice boosts fetal speech developmentPreemies who listened to voice recordings from their moms had more maturation in key language regions of the brainFetuses are capable of eavesdropping on mom’s conversations late in pregnancy

WEDNESDAY, Oct. 15, 2025 (HealthDay News) — Fetuses are eavesdropping on their mothers’ conversations late in pregnancy, with her voice providing an important boost to brain pathways essential for language, a new study says.

Researchers observed this connection among a group of hospitalized premature babies who listened to recordings of their mothers reading to them, according to a report published Oct. 13 in the journal Frontiers in Human Neuroscience .

Preemies randomly selected to hear these voice recordings experienced more matura

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