Close and loving relationships with your baby

Connecting with your baby before they arrive

This video looks at how talking to your baby bump and making sounds during pregnancy can help with your baby’s brain development before birth.

The benefits of communicating with your baby before they are born are really clear.

• Why not try responding to your baby’s kicks with a stroke or a gentle push to see if your baby responds?
• Why not encourage a lovely conversation between Dad and baby or sibling and baby – remember, singing is amazing to connect with unborn babies?
• Remember, your baby can see light towards the end of pregnancy and will remember certain sounds.

Building close and loving relationships from birth

This video looks at how important it is to develop close, loving relationships with babies in their early days and weeks.

Some ideas to consider before your baby arrives

• How do you feel about holding your baby so that their skin is right next to yours with no clothing between?
• How does Dad feel about holding your baby so that their skin is right next to yours with no clothing between?
• Have you thought about how to manage visitors in the early days?
• Have you discussed your upbringings – what was good? What was bad? Was your and your partner’s upbringing similar or different? How do you want to bring your baby up – what are the absolute ‘I wills’, the ‘I mights’ and the ‘we are not doing thats’?

Further help and support

We have a duty health visitor working from our public health nursing hub Monday to Friday 9 – 4.30. Please do contact them if you have any additional questions.

Have your say

Help us improve the local information on this website and give us feedback about any contacts you have had with our service by completing the Devon Public Health Nursing feedback form.