----- Original Message -----
Sent: Sunday, November 17, 2002 7:43
PM
Subject: Re: [ozmidwifery] FW:
[birthnews] Social use of UltrasoundinPregnancy
Thank you. Seeing as I trained in Active
Birthing in Amsterdam, I suppose it's not surprising I've taken it that every
pregnant woman does that!
Of course! The Dutch 'haptonomie'. My Dutch
book, Bevallen en Opstaan, has references to it. (see below)
Bevallen en Opstaan is interesting to translate.
Bevallen means to give birth, from vallen -- to fall -- en means and, and
opstaan is to stand up. So theoretically, to give birth and stand up, but it's
so much more meaningful in Dutch. It's more sorta, OK, birth is a natural part
of life, do it, get up and enjoy Bub. Interestingly, the photo on the front
cover is of two women and a babe. The woman at the front has her dress lifted
to reveal a gorgeous justaboutdue belly (and her knickers); one hand's
touching the side of her belly, the other's holding the dress at breast level.
The other woman, more in the background, but very clear, has one hand feeling
the belly and the other hand/arm is cradling a baby to the breast. She has
both breasts exposed. It's the most natural photo in the world.
Here's my translation:
Haptonomie is a stream within physiotherapy,
where the emphasis lies in touch, making contact, feeling with the hands. In
the fourth month of your pregnancy, when you can really feel your child
moving, you can, as a pair, go to a physiotherapist specialising in haptonomie
for a course. You learn there long before the birth to make contact with your
child by moving with the hands, softly over the belly. The child reacts to it
by moving, seeking your hands, and lets you rock him/her in the belly. In this
way, you also learn to influence the positions of your child...
Oh golly, there's so much, it would take me the
afternoon to go through it all, talks about breathing & haptonomie too. It
forms an important part of my Active Birth sessions, and I'm dismayed to
realise it's not an automatic part of the whole shebang.
I wonder whether this book has been translated?
It's brilliant. Some of it's possibly dated, (c) 1979, published 1980, fifth
print (already)1982. Photos fantastic. Goes through history of birthing
& midwifery in Holland from early 18th century. Oh, it's so good to be
back in this birthing stuff!!!
Oh, stop raving, Aviva, and get back to the
Rapee script!
Love to all, and happy haptonomie,
Aviva
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Monday, November 18, 2002 11:54 AM
Subject: Re: [ozmidwifery] FW: [birthnews] Social use of
UltrasoundinPregnancy
On 17/11/02 3:18 PM, "Aviva Sheb'a" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
wrote:
thanks, Jan, I didn't know the
term haptonomic...exactly what does it mean? Never occurred to me women
wouldn't do that...surely they do? ...don't
they...er...
aviva
*********
Whatever happened to the old
haptonomic approach to getting to know the
baby?
Don't mothers
stroke, caress, talk, and play with their babies in utero
anymore?
Usually this is spontaneous behaviour but some mothers need to be
taught
the value of a daily quiet time with baby, especially those mothers
who
come home tired from working each evening.
The haptonomic approach is
surely much more fun (and dad can join in too)
than watching the poor
little mite turn it's ears away from the intruding
ultrasound wave ...
When you see the baby waving it's arms around it's
trying to block it's
ears!
Why have we become a society that is willing to subject it's
unborn to
distressing tests without a clinical
indicator?
Jan
Dear Aviva
I knew someone would ask this question when
I didn’t have the old notes on hand.
I was discussing the way mothers
touch their babies years ago with a Dutch midwife who told me that they had a
Haptonomic Society in Europe that encouraged parents to “get in touch” with
their babies in a meaningful way during pregnancy. All sorts of haptonomic
programs were available in Holland that established routine communication
sessions between mother/father and unborn baby she said.
Since she
told me about haptonomy I have always asked my clients how their babies are
responding to their touch signals each visit. It is quiet interesting to hear
the replies.
One woman told me that her baby always responded
with an elbow movement for more attention when she stopped stroking it’s back.
She also told me that the baby did it in exactly the same way as her husband
did when she stopped stroking his back in bed at night. Her husband would give
her a backwards dig with his elbow, indicating that he wanted more of the same
stroking and she was sure that her baby was doing it exactly the same
way.
I think there is a huge necesssity for midwives to initiate
stroking and caresssing sessions with unborn babies with parents who are not
the “touchy/feely” types .. Also for those who may have been abused or
neglected or not exprerienced loving touch themselves. Seeing their smiles
when the baby responds is worthwhile.
I’ve never gotten around to
finding out if there is a Haptonomic Society in Australia as I always just
seem to incorparate a little haptonomy into my routine prenatal care and work
with the parents as the need arises.
Cheers
Jan
PS
Just looked up my dictionary and it doesn’t say too
much. It does say that a haptometer is an instrument for measuring sensitivity
to touch. Anyone else got information on this subject?
Jan
