A mom from Pennsylvania has revealed how powerful a familiar voice can be for a newborn.
Ruth Swingler, 28, (@ruth_fit316) shared the heartwarming moment from the delivery room in a reel on Instagram.
After an unmedicated natural birth, Swingler had her skin-to-skin time with baby Parker before the nurses took her to measure her weight and height.
The moment Parker was handed to her dad, Christopher, the newborn – who had been “screaming” when taken off Swingler’s chest – instantly calmed down. The text overlay reads: “My husband always talked to my belly while I was pregnant.”
Early in her pregnancy, Swingler had read that speaking to the baby in the womb could help strengthen their bond.
She shared this with her husband, and from that moment on, it became part of their nightly routine. “He took the initiative to talk to her every night before bed. We read stories to her [and] prayed together with her,” Swingler told Newsweek.
The moment was a culmination of months of connection for the couple. “My husband could not wait to be a dad,” Swingler said. “We both lost our dads as very young children, so I think becoming parents meant something very special to us both.”
As a nurse places Parker on her father’s chest, she immediately stops crying upon hearing his voice. Swingler was captivated.
“The nurse was asking me questions and I couldn’t really listen to her,” she said. “I knew what that moment meant to him, and I didn’t want to miss it.”
Shortly after this touching moment, Swingler experienced a massive postpartum hemorrhage. While doctors and nurses worked to stabilize her, her husband stepped up.
“My husband was an absolute rockstar caring for Parker basically by himself for the next eight hours while things with me were getting handled,” she said.
Since it was posted on March 27, Swingler’s clip has gone viral, amassing over 58 million views. Thousands of users commented on the heartwarming moment, with nothing but praise for the new dad.
“Imagine being brand new to the world, and the first voice you hear is the one that’s been speaking to you for months. That’s love,” wrote one user.
“That’s nine months of deep friendship right there,” another added.
“I’ve received numerous messages about how much it has touched people,” she told Newsweek. “Women messaging me that it’s encouraged them that there are men that are meant to be fathers and desire that. I’m overwhelmed and touched by the reaction.”
According to Dorcy Pruter, an expert in human connection, emotional development and family healing, a father’s voice matters – even before the baby is born.
“By the third trimester, babies can hear voices from the outside world and dad’s voice becomes a recognizable soundscape of safety,” Pruter said. “It’s the beginning of emotional attunement.”
Pruter explained that it’s not about saying the “right” words, but choosing to connect with the unborn child that has the biggest impact.
“When a father speaks to his unborn baby, he’s laying the groundwork for trust,” she said. “That early familiarity can have a calming effect after birth and can strengthen the parent-child bond over time.”
Swingler had a final reminder for new dads: “Talk to your baby before they’re here.”
The post Why Dads Should Speak to Their Babies in Womb, According to Experts appeared first on Newsweek.
