Sound can travel through your body and reach your baby. Very loud noises may be able to damage your baby's hearing. Ear plugs or earmuffs do not protect your baby's hearing. If you're pregnant the only way to protect your baby's hearing is to stay away from loud noise.
Eyvazzadeh adds that since baby doesn't start hearing anything until around 18 weeks gestation, loud noises before that point (during the first trimester) may not damage fetal hearing. However, to be safe, it's best to stay away from loud noises whenever possible throughout your pregnancy.
As a rule of thumb, babies should not be exposed to noise levels over 60 decibels. The noise level recommended for hospital nurseries is actually lower, at 50 dB. For reference, a quiet conversation is between 50 and 55 dB and an alarm clock is 80 dB.
Your child's inner ears may be damaged if they are around extremely loud noises, or around loud noises for long periods of time. Noise-induced hearing loss happens slowly and is painless. Once the hearing nerve is destroyed, it is permanent.
Generally, it is totally safe to go to concerts when you are pregnant, but some women get concerned since the sound makes their baby move around. Still, you need to know that being in a concert won't damage or hurt your baby's hearing.
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health advises that pregnant women avoid routine exposure to noise louder than 115 decibels (think of the noise a chainsaw makes).
Background noise in utero is about 85 dB, with peaks of 95 dB reported with each stroke of the mother's heart. Seemingly, the fetus can tolerate the 85 to 95 dB of background noise experienced in utero. One area of concern is that noise in pregnancy may be stress producing.
Protective earmuffs reduce noise by completely covering both ears and come in sizes that fit most people, including infants and children. Earmuffs are easier to use than earplugs, especially for young children.
Your child's inner ears may be damaged if he or she is around extremely loud noises or around loud noises for long periods of time. Noise-induced hearing loss is gradual and painless. Once the hearing nerve is destroyed, it is permanent.
Stretching – As your baby continues to grow, it begins to get a bit cramped. So when he/she moves or stretches, the mother feels a vibration.
"Certainly a child's scream right in the ear can be very loud," said Anne Oyler, an audiologist at the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association in Rockville, Maryland, who has also not treated Barnard. "Generally, a baby's cry can be about 130 decibels," she said.
60 decibels is right in the middle of this range between no sound at all and painfully intense sound. 60 dB is the equivalent of a normal conversation level.
Avoid areas that are louder than 115 dBA during pregnancy, even if you are wearing hearing protection.
Yes, it's totally fine! Some pregnant women worry about loud noises because the baby moves around when he hears them. But it won't hurt baby's hearing or do any other damage.
Do fetuses actually respond to music? Will they remember any of it later? The short answer is yes. In the last trimester of pregnancy, babies become increasingly capable of hearing a range of musical tones, and studies confirm that babies react — in the womb — to the sounds they hear.
“Any exposure to loud sounds, especially above 70 to 80 dB level, puts an infant's ears at risk and places these vulnerable patients in jeopardy for permanent damage to hearing. Movie theaters are too loud.”
A 100 dB sound like that of a power tool or a car horn is 100,000 times louder than a sound that is 50 decibels like an average suburban home or a quiet room. We, humans, will perceive this difference as 32 times louder.
85 decibels is a noise or sound level equivalent to that of a food blender, heavy traffic while you are in the car, a noisy restaurant, or a cinema. As you can see, there are plenty of situations in everyday life when we are exposed to high noise levels.
High levels of stress that continue for a long time may cause health problems, like high blood pressure and heart disease. During pregnancy, stress can increase the chances of having a baby who is preterm (born before 37 weeks of pregnancy) or a low-birthweight baby (weighing less than 5 pounds, 8 ounces).
Partners shouldn't despair — babies also learn to recognize other people's voices (and sounds) that they hear often in utero. Researchers have discovered that newborns react differently to words and sounds that were repeated daily throughout the third trimester compared to those they never heard during pregnancy.
Overall, it should be avoided because the loud sound in the theatre can cause stress and excessive movement of the fetus, which is not good. The sound can travel through your body and reach your baby, even though this sound will be muffled in the womb.
Concerts can be a great place to take babies, but there are a few things parents need to keep in mind. Make sure the concert is appropriate for young children, bring snacks and drinks for your baby, and dress them appropriately.
For healthy pregnant women, occasional air travel is almost always safe. Most airlines allow pregnant women to fly domestically until about 36 weeks of pregnancy. Your ob-gyn or other health care professional can provide proof of your due date if you need it.