A researcher says that expectant parents talking to, reading to and playing music for unborn children is common among Americans but rare in other places.

"It's one of the ways expectant parents here start to think of their unborn children as persons who are part of their family," said Sallie Han, a researcher at the University of Michigan.

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Unlike baby talk, which is found in most cultures, belly talk usually sounds like regular speech. Sometimes it is spontaneous, but often it is initiated in response to fetal kicks or other movements ("You are busy today.")

Belly talk includes rubbing, poking or prodding the pregnant belly, and interpreting fetal kicks and other movements as communications from the expected baby. Many parents-to-be give their unborn children names, or at least refer to the baby as "he" or "she" instead of "it."

Expectant dads also seem to regard belly talk as a way to feel an emotional bond with the developing child, according to Han.

Besides bonding with the expected baby, Han found that belly talk sometimes has another function. In some ways, it serves as an extension of the peculiarly American emphasis on giving children the best possible start in life, beginning even before they are born.

"By reading to their unborn children and playing music for them, some parents feel they may be contributing to their child's eventual success in life," she said. "There's a lot of interest in what some child development researchers call 'prenatal education.' But most of the parents I interviewed were also very concerned about pushing their children too hard."

As part of her doctoral dissertation examining the beliefs, Han has been interviewing 15 pregnant couples monthly.