A baby's cry just sounds like any other baby cry, right? Actually, an article in The Wall Street Journal reports that new medical research is showing that each newborn's cry can signal a lot more than just if she is hungry or tired. Subtle differences in cry characteristics can provide important clues on how hospitals should treat babies. Doctors at Brown University have also devised a computer program to help analyze a baby's cries. This program breaks down cries into 12.5-millisecond frames and measures cry factors like pitch, volume, and "voicing," which refers to how clear the cry sound is.

One of the doctors quoted in the article said, "We can start right at birth. The analysis of crying can tell you if there's something wrong with the baby's nervous system even in the absence of routine signs on physical and neurological exams." Research has shown that even healthy babies can have cries that indicate something is wrong with the central nervous system. In the future, researchers hope that cry analysis for newborns may help doctors detect problems and start treatment earlier.

Possible Preaching Angles: (1) Prayer; Trouble; Help from God—The Bible often reminds us that God hears the cries of our heart and knows the exact condition of our soul. (2) God's Omniscience; Jesus, our high priest—God knows our prayer requests before we ask.