Birth – A Rite of Passage
By
On 10th March this
year,
How does this particularly
impact upon our work as
What I was not totally cognisant of either was just how much
sentience, intelligence and awareness
is present from the moment of conception onwards. Along with other parents of earlier generations, I was
lead to believe:
Over the past thirty years
however, there has been a wealth of research indicating that even before the
formation of the central nervous system, the tiniest embryo is a sentient,
aware being with memories seemingly stored on a cellular level. Furthermore, the birth itself is much more
than a mechanical process for getting the baby out. The natural process of birth has many subtle and important
functions. It is designed to progress
in slow waves stimulating the baby physically, mentally and emotionally. Ultimately, the contractions of labour are
designed to bring the baby into the body and to stimulate a heightened
awareness; then through eye contact, skin contact and the release of a cocktail
of love hormones, a bond of love and trust is established between mother and
baby. The experience of labour and
vaginal birth is an important physiological step in development Ideally, it can
be an empowering experience for both mother and baby, a Rite of Passage.
When this does not happen and
drugs and interventions occur, it is important that we acknowledge that an
important step in development has been disturbed.
The developmental journey (in
this life form) begins with the intention to incarnate resulting in the Vital Force igniting within the fluids
of the fertilized egg. Thus not only a
blueprint for human life, but for that individual comes into being. From that moment onwards, this emerging life form is never anything but whole. Nothing
is added or taken away during the gestation period. It is simply an unfolding which will continue throughout
time. At any point throughout that
period pathology can not only be triggered but with experiential awareness. This makes the embryological experience and
birth just as important an event as yesterday’s occurrences. Now that I am aware of this, I see it more
and more in my practice and am becoming increasingly aware of the different
issues which can be set in motion over
this period.
The
experiences of conception, implantation, of being in a nurturing womb, of the
birth process, bonding and early infancy have a profound impact physically,
mentally, emotionally and spiritually influencing the ability to relate to
ourselves, to others and to the world. Each stage, if disturbed,
leaves it own hallmark.
An example I saw recently was
that of a man who described his relationships with women as very
difficult. He had great trouble in
connecting and in fact went so far as to say his relationships with women were ‘poisonous’. As a child he had for a long time failed to thrive and had spent
a great deal of his time burrowing with his head into pillows, cushions, the
floor. He didn’t know why he did this
and it usually left him feeling frustrated and unhappy. It transpired that his mother had been
devastated when she heard she was pregnant and had continued with her usual
lifestyle making few allowances for the fact she was carrying a baby. This patient took part in a birth process workshop during which he
became aware that at the very outset, as a newly fertilised egg he had found it
very difficult to implant himself in the wall of his mother’s uterus due to the
toxicity of emotion. We have of course
all heard the expression, ‘the hostile womb’.
This of course is an issue
which has been around since time began and can often be met by our
remedies. However, the mechanical
interventions which now frequently take place are relatively new and did not
exist at the time of Hahnemann. What I
am finding is that these interventions
set up symptom pictures which can appear to be a clear image of a
One situation
which I am finding increasingly is that of the child who is brought kicking and
screaming into the consulting room, sweaty, asthmatic, short attention span,
confrontational. I smile happily for
the gift and send him away with his Tuberculinum only to be greeted four weeks
later by the sound of boot hitting ankle and loud wails and coughs approaching
my door. It is only after taking the birth
history I learn that the child had a
very difficult birth passage resulting in a forceps delivery when they became stuck. What a traumatic entry this can be for any child, setting up so many issues. Leaving aside for the moment the actual pain and shock of this
intervention and the intra osseus strains which can cause many problems, including to the central nervous system and
diaphragm, there are a number of psychological issues which arise. One such is the fact that many children born in this way behave in a
confrontational way. The reason for
this lies in the fact that during the birth process the forces at work within
the baby impel him to go forward. When
forceps are used there is a natural reaction to pull backwards thus going
against the natural flow of energy. Adults and children born in this way who
have been regressed, have expressed murderous rage in therapy as well as other
traits, such as:
We may recognise some of our
remedy pictures in these established birth patterns and it may be that they
well work despite the intraoseous disturbances caused during those particular
births. What we may not be doing
however is prescribing with the sort of awareness of aeteology which we so
often do with adults in, say, cases of NBWS (never been well since) grief,
anger, unrequited love, etc.
This is the effect of just
one intervention but of course there are many more which also have their
consequences and set up their own patterns of behaviour, e.g.
Inductions force the child
to come into the world at a time not of their choosing, hence creating issues
around self empowerment and control of their own lives. The hormones used speed up the process which
for the baby can be frightening and remove the ability to atune to the natural
rhythms, to be in control of the process.
There is also a sense of hurry.
Having to get this over quickly to meet someone else’s deadline. After such a birth it is difficult for the
person to take up time and space for themselves and they feel obliged to dance
to someone else’s tune. They may also
always feel a sense of hurry, as seen in Sycotic remedies.
Children born by caesarean section have many
issues. One minute they are in a safe,
warm, pressurised environment and then
suddenly find themselves transported into a cold, noisy place where the
pressure is very different. It is not
uncommon for children born this way to have problems being here, to have issues
around completion, to expect others to do it for them, to have boundary issues,
to have a fear of people breaking in to their houses. There are also again many physical strains which are the result
of this type of birth.
These are just a few of the
issues. There are others resulting from
epidurals and drugs, the cutting of the cord prematurely (i.e. before it ceases
to pulsate), separation and
bonding. Dr William Emerson, a
world authority who deals with infants, children and adults suffering birth
trauma, talks about 150 – 175 symptom patterns of unresolved birth trauma. It is a big subject but one which gives
valuable insights into our patients and their issues. Our repertories sadly do not include sections on this period but
nevertheless I find that prescribing with empathy and a conscious awareness of
what the child may have suffered seems to affect the outcome positively.
An awareness of how sentient
and conscious babies are has certainly influenced my case taking in that I now
very actively include the baby in the discussions, referring things back to
them, reassuring them, resourcing them and taking great care when I discuss
areas of potential trauma with the mother, such as birth issues. Babies, I have learnt, are very aware what is being said and of
sensory changes in those around them.
They respond to life in a purposeful and intelligent way, picking up
meaning and understanding at a very deep whole body level. I have found that by acknowledging this and
their pain, by slowing the conversation down to their level, by simply telling them that you know how
difficult that must have been for them, often brings about a shift in energy.
What I always try to bear in mind is that during a traumatic birth where
mechanical intervention was used, the baby was totally disempowered. Someone came in from the outside and took
over. They had no voice and their pain was not acknowledged. Hence, I try to
let them know that in my consulting room they will be listened to and
heard. If I am doing cranial work on a
baby, or simply taking her case, I will
always start by saying, ‘You are in charge.
You let me know if you are unhappy with what I am doing and I will
stop’. Even the tiniest baby will
remove your hands if they do not like the contact or become agitated if the
conversation encroaches on painful issues.
In all this, I would not
forget to support the mother who was also part of the process and may well
herself be carrying emotional and physical pain, including guilt. Sometimes simply putting things in
perspective for the baby can help. The
following is an extract from a publication issued by Lesley Downie of The Baby
Project (who will also be present at the
‘ … I often work with babies and small children and of course their
parents. I had such a beautiful session
with a mum and baby. They had a planned
Caesarean birth because Placenta Previa was discovered at 32 weeks.
During the last two months of preganancy, both parents were in an
anxious and hypervigilant state. At ten
weeks old, the little one was jumpy and restless, slept very little and was
unsettled and tense, even when asleep.
He would fuss and stop and start when feeding.
The
baby seemed to me to be holding a lot of tension from that scary time in the
womb. He was marinated in adrenalin for
two months, picking up the anxiety and fear of his parents…….. After a while, I
suggested that she (the mum) talk to her baby about how she had felt and what
had happened during the last two months of their pregnancy. The mum was wonderful. She told her baby about how scared she had
been. How she had counted the days,
checking each morning that there was no bleeding, and how the daddy had talked
to the baby telling him to ‘hang on in there’.
She told the baby how well he had done, holding on until the last week.
It
was so beautiful. I sat there with tears running down my face and watched as
shock visibly released from the baby.
Later, I said, ‘I am just going to put my hands on you, little one’ You can let me know if this is OK’. I moved my hands on to the baby who became
completely relaxed and went into a deep, peaceful sleep. To his mother’s amazement, her baby did not
wake, even when she moved him into the pushchair. Nor did he jump when someone banged a door outside the treatment
room. It was such a moving
session. Such a privilege to witness,
love in action.’
What we are doing is not only
offering babies the support they need to resolve early difficulties but also to
complete the birth process, thus fully entering into life.
Finally of course, there is
also our own pain which needs to be acknowledged. Most of us were born into
that era where consciousness around the birth process was at a low and our own
birth trauma and perhaps subsequent separation and bonding issues may have gone unacknowledged. When babies enter our consulting room fresh
from these experiences, whether they are carrying trauma or whether they have
been born into a loving environment, we
may find our own birth issues being activated.
It is well for us to be able to recognise when our own inner child is
crying, what is our pain and what is the patients. We need to be able to care for ourselves as well as our
patients in order that we can remain
the impartial observer. This is more
easily achieved if we have some idea as to the roots of that suffering.
For more information about
the seminar with Michel Odent, email swelhoms@dsl.pipex.com
or telephone Clare Lincoln on 020 8946 2650