Tiny Ears, Big Feelings: Listening for emotion before birth

What is this study about?

By the third trimester, babies in the womb can already hear. They’re especially tuned in to their mum’s voice, but they also pick up on other sounds—like music, speech, and even changes in mum’s heartbeat and breathing.

And it’s not just cute—it’s meaningful. Research shows that babies learn from what they hear before birth. For example, newborns can already tell the difference between their mother’s voice and someone else’s, and they recognise the rhythm of their native language. Some studies even suggest that babies react to emotions in voices right from birth.

Our study builds on this exciting research. We’re trying to understand how babies start to connect emotions—like happy or sad feelings—with the tune of a voice, and whether this learning starts before they’re even born.

Part 1 – While you’re pregnant

This part happens during your third trimester and takes place in your home.

• Each day, you’ll watch a short video (about 3 minutes) on your phone. These videos are designed to make you feel gently happy or sad, using music and photos of people’s faces.
• You’ll wear headphones to hear the video, while at the same time your baby (in the womb) hears short, made-up sentences with either a rising or falling tune. These sentences will play out loud while you’re wearing the headphones.
• Afterwards, you’ll fill out a quick form to tell us how the video made you feel.
• This takes about 10 minutes a day, 6 days a week, for 9 to 12 weeks.

We’ll visit you at home once at the start to set everything up and show you how it works. After that, you can do it on your own at home, with occasional check-ins online.

Part 2 – After your baby is born

After birth, we’ll visit you again at home to see how your baby responds to the same sentences they heard during pregnancy.

• Your baby will wear a soft cap with sensors (see photo). This is called EEG, a safe and painless way to measure brain activity, just like a baby-friendly brain scan.
• While your baby listens to the sounds, we’ll record their brain’s response.
• The whole session will take about 1 hour, including setup, explanation, and testing. The testing itself only takes around 15 minutes.

Where will everything take place?

In your own home! We bring all the equipment and handle setup for both parts of the study.

Will I receive anything for participating?

You’ll receive a €10 Yesty voucher for each full week of participation during pregnancy (up to €120 in total). Your baby will receive a set of 8 beautifully illustrated books, designed to support early learning.

Who is running this study?

The study is being conducted by Elanie van Niekerk (PhD candidate), together with Anna Ansems, Professor Aoju Chen, and Dr. Caroline Junge.

Questions?

Feel free to contact Elanie at e.a.vanniekerk@uu.nl – she’ll be happy to help!