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Sight and hearing are the two senses that often come to mind first when we think about sensory experience, but there is a lot more going on than just ‘looking’ and ‘listening’ when it comes to these two senses.
Although our eyes will be open a few minutes after birth, our hearing will have introduced us to the outside world from within the womb, well before we were born. The ability to respond to sound very early on is part of a newborn’s survival kit, helping them acclimatise to their surroundings and recognise the familiar, while their other senses are still very much in early development (McConnell and McCarthy 2014). Our instinct to connect with the ‘bump’ through talking, singing and listening to soothing music actually makes a lot of sense.
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