Bonding with Baby-to-Be

Creating a Connection

Weeks before her due date, Laura Hendrix already felt close to her daughter. "I'd tell the baby just about everything," says the first-time mom from Greenville, North Carolina. Hendrix relished the tiny kicks she often got on her afternoon drives home from work. Her morning and nightly routine of rubbing lotion on her swelling belly also helped her bond. "The baby would move to where my hand was," she says. "I could feel her bottom and her back. I felt like a mom even though she wasn't born yet."

Bonding with your baby-to-be can be as natural a part of your pregnancy as hormonal changes and weight gain. Indeed, a recent study indicates that these early connections can have a lasting effect, because memory develops in the womb. Our tips can help you set the stage for lifelong intimacy with your child.