Amazing video shows babies 'SINGING' in the womb

Unborn babies are able to hear in the womb at just 16 weeks gestation, a new study has revealed.

For the first time scientists at the Institut Marques in Barcelona have shown a foetus is able to detect sounds, and furthermore, that they respond by moving their mouths and tongues.

It is accepted that an unborn baby's ear is fully developed at week 16 of a pregnancy.

But, until now experts did not believe a foetus could hear until week 18, at the earliest but more commonly nearer 26 weeks.

Dr Marisa Lopez-Teijon, who led the study, said the findings show a foetus responds to music transmitted intravaginally by moving their mouth and tongue, 'as if they were trying to speak or sing'.

While showing for the first time that foetuses hear as early as 16 weeks, the study also has wider implications.

Researchers note their method could be used to rule out foetal deafness, and allows the parents to ensure foetal wellbeing.

The music stimulates the part of the brain involved in communication, and on hearing the sound the foetus responds with movements similar to vocalisation - the step prior to singing and speaking.

Using the device, known as a Babypod, developed for the study, mothers could begin to stimulate their unborn baby's communication skills before they are born. 

In essence, it suggests babies can begin to learn before they are born. 

The experiment was carried out on pregnant women between the 14th and 39th week of pregnancy.

Throughout the study, the team used ultrasound to observe the reaction of the foetus, after hearing music.

The music was emitted both abdominally - against the bump - and intravaginally, via a special speaker inserted into the vagina.

The foetus's were all played Johann Sebastian Bach's Partita in A Minor.

Ultrasound scans performed prior to starting the music showed that around 45 per cent of foetuses made spontaneous head and limb movements, while 30 per cent moved their mouth or tongue, and 10 per cent stuck their tongues out.

When exposed to sound emitted via the intravaginal device, 87 per cent of foetuses reacted with head and limb movements.

And they were accompanied by specific mouth and tongue movements, which stopped when the music stopped.

Furthermore, 50 per cent of the foetuses reacted with a striking movement, opening their jaw very wide and sticking their tongue out as far as it would go.

In comparison, when a set of headphones were placed over a pregnant woman's bump, and the music was played through the abdomen, researchers observed no changes in foetal facial expression.

The study was published in the journal Ultrasound. 

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