VENUS TSE, like many mothers in Hong Kong, is eager to give her son, Shing-shing, a head start in life. So she began early - when he was still in her womb. From her fifth month of pregnancy onwards she followed a course of prenatal education sessions using a device strapped to her belly.
Twice a day the gadget administered a series of heartbeat-type sounds to her baby - sounds that the product manufacturer claims will stimulate the developing nervous system and activate the child's brain in a way 'never before possible'. Four months later Shing-shing was born via C-section calm, quiet and alert.
'My son was born, with his eyes wide open and in the first few minutes after birth he seemed to know me and my husband very well. He didn't cry much, ate very well and has had a regular routine from the very beginning.'
Now 101/2 months old, Shing-shing has met all the developmental milestones much earlier than the average child.
'At four months he started to say baba and now he can say mama. My daughter, Phoebe, only started saying baba at eight months,' says Tse. 'Shing-shing likes to listen to music and language tapes and he always knows where the sounds are coming from. Even at one-month-old his eyes would stare at the loudspeaker while he was listening and he could follow me and my sounds around the room.'
As parents it's natural to want to give our children a head start in life but it's equally easy to fall prey to the fear that there must be something more we could be doing. Stores are stacked with products designed to enhance a baby's learning abilities and since the pioneering work of Anthony DeCasper in the 1980s, an increasing number of products focus directly on the unborn child.