What Prenatal and Perinatal Psychology Shows Us…
Cell biology, brain science and child development studies confirm the findings of
transpersonal psychology and sacred teachings of long ago: What we experience at the very
beginning of life deeply shapes our health, the way we live, and our life choices. Many
problems and chronic conditions we face as teens or adults can, in fact, be traced to faulty
patterns in our brain and nervous system, including a distorted sense of self and an inability
to trust the world around us. These patterns are physiological and rooted in the experiences
we had at conception, during womb life, in birth, and in those first crucial hours afterward.
Our first “home” is the womb, when our mother’s body and psyche are our world. We bathe
in the sea of her thoughts, emotions and perceptions. Our umbilical cord tethers us to the
mother ship, and we receive the biochemical translation of her consciousness. Not only do
we develop from her nutrients and love hormones but also the toxins she takes in, all via that
pulsing channel. These are the components from which we compose our tissues and organs,
especially our brain.
After birth the face, voice and body language of our mother constitute the mirror in which we
see ourself and the window to the world around us. Therefore, how our mother experiences
life, how she is treated – with joy and honor or neglect and abuse – profoundly influence how
we grow up to treat ourselves, everyone, and everything we encounter.
…From immune system disorders to terrorism, from committing suicide to devising
weapons, from child abuse to corruption, and from alcoholism to trashing our planet, we are
dealing with an impaired capacity for loving oneself and others…
…For the first time in known history we can collectively address the premise that both peace
and war begin in the womb. Our consciousness does not end at the boundaries of our flesh. It
lies in, around and beyond our developing brain. Deep inside, we forever hold the memory of
our birth, our in-womb life, and even conception.
Nature has endowed women with the monumental task of birthing cultures as well as human
beings. More than ever, we know how important it is for society to embrace and empower
pregnant mothers, offer them beauty and harmony, so that they are inspired in their endeavor
to weave a luminous, caring web of life for their babies, the future citizens of earth.
The fairest thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is a fundamental emotion which
stands at the cradle of true art and science. He who knows it not and can no longer wonder,
no longer feels amazement, is as good as dead, a snuffed-out candle.
Albert Einstein
By Laura Uplinger and Suzanne Arms
Comment to suzannebirthing@gmail.com