Wisdom and Births

Few people know about the important field of Prenatal and Perinatal Psychology (PPN), which studies the fascinating mind of the developing human embryo and newborn baby. More on PPN Surprisingly, this area of study receives very little attention from mainstream media, medical research and practice, and even in discussions for improving birth - which heavily focus on the rights and experiences of the mother.  What does PPN have to tell us about our babies, their experiences, and our potential as human beings? The following quotes are from a few of the leaders in PPN research and illuminate some important findings emerging from this incredible field.  "The truth is, much of what we have traditionally believed about babies is false. We have misunderstood and underestimated their abilities. They are not simple beings but complex and ageless - small creatures with unexpectedly large thoughts."  ~David Chamberlain, PhD - Babies Remember Birth (1988) * "PPN findings rev...

Have you ever considered birth from the perspective of the baby? It is likely that you haven't and it's probably because there is a pervasive belief in our culture that since we don't remember this time of our lives, we must not have the mental capacity to make judgements, feel emotions and even feel pain... yes seriously, pain. It was only in the early 1980s that the medical community was forced (by parents) to acknowledge babies can feel pain and to provide medication for surgeries, such as circumcision (1). But let's think think about this. Babies can feel, see, taste, hear, touch, suck, kick, grasp, and react to external and internal stimuli while in the womb... neurons are firing, cells are working... isn't it a wildly flawed assumption to think that experiences during this time of our life don't matter? Could it be possible that early experiences, such as those during pregnancy, birth, and infancy are stored within our incredible and rapidly developing bra...

This year's World Breastfeeding Week is highlighting the importance of breastfeeding peer counselors in optimizing the breastfeeding success of new and experienced mothers. With little more than half of all mothers exclusively breastfeeding past one week (1) , peer support is critical for increasing our population's health. Breastfeeding is important for the health of both mothers and babies. Breastfeeding helps a baby stay healthy and research shows that increased length and exclusivity of breastfeeding can decrease a baby's risk of contracting a number of illnesses such as otitis media (ear infections) and gastroenteritis, or dying from SIDS. The benefits of breastfeeding extend into childhood and beyond by decreasing the risk of childhood obesity, diabetes (type 1 & 2), and leukemia. For the mother, breastfeeding helps to protect against breast cancer, ovarian cancer, and type 2 diabetes. (2) "Compared with breastfed infants, formula-fed infants face higher ris...