Free
$0forever
- Every library story, to read aloud yourself
- 3 stories in your voice
- 1 voice
The science of a mother's voice
A child's brain lights up at Mom's voice.
Stanford University · PNAS, 2016That's why MomStory reads your child's bedtime stories in your own voice.
Free forever: library stories to read, plus 3 stories in your voice.
Queen's University · 2003
Before birth, a baby's heart rate rose to Mom's recorded voice — and fell to a stranger's.
See all 6 studiesSix studies of a mother's voice
These are studies of real mothers' voices, live or recorded — not studies of MomStory.
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Queen's University · 2003
Known before birth
60 babies at the end of pregnancy heard a recording of their mother or a stranger reading. Heart rates rose to Mom's voice and fell to the stranger's.
Kisilevsky et al. · Psychological Science -
University of North Carolina at Greensboro · 1980
Preferred from the first days
Newborns under 3 days old learned to suck in a way that played their mother's voice — and chose it more often than another woman's.
DeCasper & Fifer · Science -
Harvard Medical School · 2015
A larger hearing area in preemies
40 babies born very early heard recordings of their mother's voice and heartbeat. A month later, their auditory cortex was larger than in babies who heard only hospital sounds.
Webb et al. · PNAS -
University of Geneva · 2021
Lower pain scores during a procedure
20 premature babies showed lower pain scores and more oxytocin while their mother spoke to them live during a painful procedure.
Filippa et al. · Scientific Reports -
University of Wisconsin–Madison · 2010
Comfort, almost like a hug
After a stressful speech and math test, girls aged 7–12 who talked to Mom on the phone had nearly the same oxytocin and cortisol response as girls comforted in person.
Seltzer, Ziegler & Pollak · Proc. R. Soc. B -
Stanford University · 2016
A child's brain lights up
In 24 children, clips of their mother's voice under a second long stirred more brain activity — in reward, emotion and face areas — than other women's voices.
Abrams et al. · PNAS
Six kinds of stories
Calms your child. Helps your little one grow.
- To calm
- Fearsthe dark, the doctor
- Emotionsanger, sadness
- Situationsdaycare, a new sibling
- To grow
- Habitsbrushing teeth, veggies
- Charactersharing, honesty
- Valuesfriendship, kindness
Just hearing Mom on the phone calmed stressed girls' hormones almost like a hug.
How it works
Three steps to your voice at bedtime.
- Record your voice
- Pick one of 365 stories or describe your own
- Hear it in your voice
Filmed by parents
Watch them hear Mom's voice. Or Dad's.
Parents on TikTok film their child listening to a bedtime story in Mom's or Dad's voice. Tap a video to watch it right here.
Every parent here has a code. Enter it once in the Promo code field when you choose Gold in the app: your first month of Gold is 44% off, just $8.29, for new Gold subscribers.
No videos yet — be the first to share yours.
Plans
Free forever. Gold when you want more.
Gold
$14.99/ month
or $99.99 a year — $8.33 a month
- 30 stories in your voice every month
- Up to 5 voices — Mom, Dad, Grandma
- Cancel anytime in the App Store
Your voice for your child. Time for you.
Your little one hears you read a story — while you take a moment for yourself.
We never sell your data or use it for ads.