Nicole Richie spotted purchasing prenatal education system

Despite a busy Good Charlotte tour schedule, Joel Madden and partner Nicole Richie are diligently preparing for the birth of their first child. Witnesses spotted the couple on August 15th purchasing the BabyPlus Prenatal Education System at Destination Maternity on Madison Avenue in NYC.

The four-months-pregnant Nicole eyed the device in the store’s window, according to a witness, then marched straight in to purchase it.

She was very specific. She was asking a lot of questions about it.

Nicole also spent time in the changing-room trying on maternity clothes.

The BabyPlus Prenatal Education System is the first and only prenatal curriculum that utilizes simple audio rhythms similar to the maternal heartbeat. As a child hears the sounds of BabyPlus, the company says that he or she learns to distinguish between those sounds and the sound of the mother’s heartbeat. Similar to prenatal vitamins which help children develop physically, the BabyPlus curriculum purports to help children develop cognitively. To date, BabyPlus has been used by over 100,000 families worldwide, including several celebrities (Gwen Stefani is a fan as well).  It retails for $150.

Source: Star

Comments

There baby is going to be so cute.

- Ariane on August 30th, 2007

I’ve always been impressed by CBB’s journalistic integrity, which makes this post quite disturbing. The final paragraph sounds like an advertisement for the product, and the bold claims of enhanced cognitive development are not supported by empirical research (or common sense, for that matter). I wish the post simply noted Nicole’s interest and other celebrities who have purchased the product. Endorsing the product’s claims is both irrelevant and misleading.

- Michelle on August 30th, 2007

Nicole is looking wonderful! So glad to see she’s taking this pregnancy very seriously, and has really changed her old ways.

The gadget she was purchasing sounds kind of silly, IMO. “Educating” a baby in this way, while still in utero? No thanks, and especially the 150.00! I just chose to talk and sing to mine while they were in there. Money was very well spent AFTER they were born for things they actually needed.

- KWKW on August 30th, 2007

I agree with KWKW. This gadget sounds ridiculous.

- Tara on August 30th, 2007

Emperor’s New Clothes.

The baby racket will never cease to pray upon nervous new parents who have cash to burn.

Is there any way to prove or disprove the functionality of this device? Noooooo.

- PSB on August 30th, 2007

I am a Developmental Psychologist, and I have emailed CBB about advertising this machine. My post was not published. The scientific claims behind the BabyPlus have not been properly substantiated and I do not think we know enough about it to advocate its use. This is putting it mildly.

- DevPsych on September 2nd, 2007