OMG---Amazing Video Shows Babies 'Singing' In The Womb:

Shocking, Scientists show that Unborn babies are able to hear in the womb at just 16 weeks gestation, 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'

 WATCH THE VIDEO AND SEE MORE PHOTOS BELOW

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.