PRE NATAL PSYCHOLOGY

Mário ResendeSandra Gonçalves

AlmaSomaEarth, July, 2010

• Pre-natal Period: “Before Birth”; period between fertilization and birth

• Peri-natal Period:”Around Birth”; since 22 weeks of gestation (5 months) until one week after birth

• Pos-natal Period: “After Birth”; period started immediately after birth until, approximately, 6 weeks after birth.

DEFINITIONS

• Embryonic Period: Fertilization until 10 weeks of gestation (8th week of development)

basic system and all organs formation

• Fetal Period: Since 10th week of gestation until birth (about 40 weeks of gestation)

Growth and maturation

DEFINITIONS

WESTERN MYTHS ABOUT NEWBORNS

1 – BABIES DO NOT FEEL - EASILY VICTIMIZED AND DISCRIMINATED, THEY ARE NON-PERSONS, WITHOUT RIGHTS. No need for anaesthesia, even if they feel they will not remember later.

2 – VERY LIMITED BRAINS – BRAIN IS UNABLE OF SUPERIOR FUNCTIONS AS THINKING, MEANING ATRIBUTION OR MEMORY. WITHOUT BRAIN THERE ISN’T A PERSON NEITHER THE NEED TO EDUCATE OR EXERT PATERNITY.. MYELINATION ONLY COMPLETED DURING ADOLESCENCE

Chamberlain, The Mind of Your Newborn Baby, 1998

MYTHS ABOUT NEWBORNS - II

3 – BRAIN OF ASSEMBLE – IT ONLY WORKS WHEN IT’S COMPLETED?

4 – BABIES DO NOT THINK – PRE-SYMBOLIC, PRE-REPRESENTED, PRE-REFLEXIVE. WITHOUT LANGUAGE THERE IS NO THINKING?

Chamberlain, The Mind of Your Newborn Baby, 1998

MYTHS ABOUT NEWBORNS - III

5 – WITHOUT CONSCIOUSNESS- AUTISTIC, EGOCENTRIC, SOLIPSIST? – DISCOURAGE INTIMATE DIALOGUE. HOWEVER, THEY LISTEN CAREFULLY, PAMPER EXPRESSIONS, RESPOND AND INICIATE DIALOGUE. HIGHLY INTERESTED IN THE WORLD.

6 – DON’T NEED THEIR MOTHERS, ONE BABYSITTER IS ENOUGH OR A NURSERY IS ENOUGH – HOWEVER, MOTHERS PROVIDE ANTI-BODIES, REGULATION OF THE BODY TEMPERATURE, THEY IMPROVE METABOLIC RATE, HORMONE AND ENZYME LEVELS, HEART AND RESPIRATORY RATE.

Chamberlain, The Mind of Your Newborn Baby, 1998

MYTHS ABOUT NEWBORNS - IV

7 – AGE MYTH – WE SEE ALL AGE GROUPS DIFERENT FROM OUR OWN, AS INFERIORS IN ALL LEVELS: EMBRYO, FETUS, NEWBORN, CHILD, TEENAGER OR ELDERLY

Chamberlain, The Mind of Your Newborn Baby, 1998

Fetal Investigation• Historically, fetal research was merely about physical

evolution, because the mechanisms of prenatal consciousness - and the means to measure them – were not thought to exist.

• Since 1975, approximately, technological advances have allowed researchers to observe all stages of fetal development, and to actually observe the responses of the pre-born, to certain stimuli. Especially since the 90s, there was an exponential increase in our knowledge of the sensory ability of the fetus and its consciousness.

• Association For Prenatal & Perinatal Psychology and Health, APPPAH, founded in 1983.

Fetal SensesTouch

THE FIRST SENSE TO DEVELOP.

* BEFORE 8 WEEKS – MOVEMENTS TO AVOID THE TOUCH OF A HAIR ON THE CHEEK;

* 10 W – SENSIBILITY IN THE GENITAL AREA;

* 11 W– PALMS

* 12 W – SOLES;

* 17 W - ABDOMEN AND BUTTOCKS;

* 32 W – WHOLE BODY IS SENSITIVE TO THE SOFT TOUCH OF A HAIR

FETAL SENSESMOVEMENT

* 3 W – FIRST HEART BEAT

* 6 - 10 W – HEAD, ARMS AND LEGS MOV.S;

* 10 W – HAND TO HEAD, TO FACE, TO THE MOUTH, MOUTH MOV. AND SWALLOWING;

* 10 - 15 W – REACTIVE MOV. TO ENVIRONMENT (MOTHER COUGHT OR LAUGHTER)

* 14 W – FULL REPERTOIRE OF MOVEMENTS

Early communication and motion games. Permanence of the object.

FETAL SENSESTASTE AND SMELL

* 11 - 15 W – NOSE DEVELOPS, ODOURS BECOME AVAILABLE IN THE FLUIDS BATHING THE NASAL CAVITY

* 14 W – THE STRUCTURES OF TASTE ARE COMPLETED – SWALLOW MORE WITH SWEET TASTES

MORE CHANCES OF EARLY COMMUNICATION AND EDUCATION. FOOD PREFERENCES (COMMON AND LEARNED), RELATIONSHIP WITH MATERNAL MILK AND ODORS.

FETAL SENSESLISTENING

*16 W – REACTIVE LISTENING;

* 24 W – AUDITIVE STRUCTURES ARE COMPLETED.

MOTHER’S VOICEARE THE SOUNDS BETTER HEARD

RESEARCH: BRAHMS’S LULLABY - 6X 5 MIN / DAY: GREATER WEIGHT GAIN.

RECOGNITION AND PREFERENCE FOR MATERNAL VOICE AND KNOWN MATERIAL

FETAL SENSESVISION - I

* 16 W – AVOID OR ATTACK NEEDLES FROM AMNIOCENTESIS;

•20 W – TWINS LOCATE EACH OTHER WHITHOUT DIFFICULTY, TOUCH EACH OTHER’S FACES, OR GIVE EACH OTHER’S HANDS;

* BEFORE 26 W – LIGHT SENSITIVITY

* 26 W – OPENING OF THE EYELIDS;

* 31 - 32 W – VISUAL FOCUS AND FOLLOW-UP VERTICAL AND HORIZONTAL.

*

FETAL SENSESVISION II

THE LUMINOUS ENVIRONMENT OF MOTHER IS FOLLOW BY PRE-BORN.

THERE IS A FINE SPACE AND TERRITORIAL PERCEPTION.

AWARENESS OF THE LIGHT AND THE VISUAL OF THE ENVIRONMENT AT BIRTH.

•TERM BABIES – ACUITY, CONTRAST, REFRACTION AND ACCOMODATION SENSITIVITY, SPATIAL AND BINOCULAR VISION, PERCEPTION OF DISTANCE AND DEPTH, COLOR VISION AND SENSITIVITY TO OSCILATTION. CURIOSITY AND PERCEPTION OF BASIC FORMS.

*AT BIRTH – PERFECTLY FOCUSSED VISION OF 8 TO 12 INCHES.

FETAL SENSESINTEGRATED

* 16 W – ERECTIONS IN ULTRASOUNDS, AS REACTION TO FINGER SUCKING;

•THIRD TRIMESTER – DURING SEXUAL RELATIONS OF THE PARENTS, THE HEART ACCELERATES AND DECELERATES IN A REACTIVE WAY AND THERE IS INCREASED FETAL MOVEMENT ASSOCIATED WITH PARENTAL ORGASMS.

*23 W – REM SLEEP

*30 W – ALL SLEEP DURING PREGNANCY IS REM. IN THE END, 50% OF THE SLEEP IS REM

Memory location in Pre-born

3 Memory Models:• 1 – Localized models: memories are codified in

identifiable structures in brain• 2 – Non-localized models: • A) Memories are related to physiological

structures of the cortical nervous system, but aren’t reducible to certain points (brain model of Pribam)

• B) All cells store memory in Ribonucleic Acid (RNA), so that memories are stored in the hole body.

Memory location in Pre-born

3 - Non physical or transcendent model: conscience and memory are prior to physical body and aren’t limited to the brain. Likewise, it consider that the consciousness and the memory source is out of the material dimension; brain is only the temporary instrument of reception.

Each model is based in abundant empiric data, but none is conclusive.

SARAH HINZE – Case StudiesNEAR BIRTH EXPERIENCE (NBE) - I

•WHEN THEY HAPPEN?

* BEFORE CONCEPTION - 53%

* DURING PREGNANCY- 47%

•TO WHOM THEY HAPPEN?

* MOTHERS - 63%

* FATHERS - 13%

* OTHERS - 24%

NEAR BIRTH EXPERIENCE - II

TYPES OF NBE:

* VISIONS

* DREAMS

* AUDITION

* TELEPATHY

NEAR BIRTH EXPERIENCE - III

10 ASPECTS OF A TYPICAL NBE:

* LOVE IRRADIATION

* CELESTIAL LIGHT

* GRATITUDE AND LONGING TO COME TO EARTH

* LEAVING A LOVABLE CELESTIAL HOME

* IT’S TIME TO COME TO EARTH

* AN UNIQUE MISSION

* PROTECTION/ WARNING

* MESSAGES

Sarah Hinze (1997), Coming from the Light, Spiritual Accounts of Life Before Life, Pocket Books.

BIRTH MEMORIES

Concordances and contradictions in 10 pairs of mothers and children under hypnosis (Chamberlain, 1998)

Pairs 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10Conc. 12 12 9 9 16 19 8 13 24 15Cont. 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 4 0 1

,

In A Mente do Seu Recém- Nascido, David Chamberlain (Hugin, 2003)

Interesting Resources• www.birthpsychology.com• Chamberlain, D. (2003) A Mente do Seu Recém-Nascido. Lisboa: Hugin.• Grof, S. (2000) Psychology of the Future. Albany: SUNY• Hinze, S. (1997), Coming from the Light, Spiritual Accounts of Life Before

Life, Pocket Books. • Odent, M. (2005) A Cesariana. Operação de Salvamento ou Indústria de

Nascimento? Lisboa: Miosótis.• Saldanha, V. (1997) A Psicoterapia Transpessoal. São Paulo: Komedi.• Seligson, F. () Oriental Birth Dreams. Hollym• Verny, T. & Weintraub, P. ( ) Nurturing Your Unborn Child.