Why it pays to be a chatty mum: Babies start learning language BEFORE birth, study finds

If you're an expectant mother, chatting as much as possible could give your baby a headstart when it comes to learning to talk. That's because new research has found your unborn son or daughter will start learning the language you speak before they're even born. In experiments, researchers discovered heightened activity in the brains of newborns when they heard the language they were exposed to most often in utero. The study didn't look at exactly when babies become receptive to spoken language while they are still in the womb, although it's well known that a foetus starts hearing sounds in the later stages of the second trimester and the start of the third. Therefore, expectant mothers – and fathers too – should not be afraid to chat away, and even talk directly to their baby bump.