I posted about this on a forum and got a similar response Kelly. Apparently,
breastfeeding is important to ensure babe is secure, healthy, etc but birth
is irrelevant ?! Babies are completely capable of feeling, thinking, seeing,
hearing when they are born, therefore just as sensitive (probably much more
so) to trauma than adults. Just as traumatic experiences can affect us, they
too can affect the newborn in enormous ways thus shaping his or her
personality. Also, you might like to point out that a traumatic birth
affects both mother and baby. If a mother suffers PTSD and/or PND following
her birth, she will possibly be unequipped to meet her own needs let alone
her babies. The care needed to ensure baby's security and general wellbeing
could be out the window. These days, weeks or months of 'existence' rather
than nurturing are surely damaging to baby, and have a big impact on his or
her personality. Therefore, even if it is in a less direct way, birth DOES
shape the child!
Here are a couple of articles you may like to check out. The latter article
describes how a foetus's parents attitudes and feelings about the baby and
birth affect the baby psychologically... therefore surely birth itself does
too.
1) Premature birth affects personality-
http://212.58.240.36/2/low/health/4747694.stm
2) The Mysteries of Prenatal Consiousness-
http://www.theosophy-nw.org/theosnw/issues/sx-sbd2.htm
Quote: When in our lives do we become human beings? Until recently
scientists believed that the infant was a virtual blank and, following
Freud's dictum, that only at two or three years of age could personality
begin to form. Gradually, however, over the last fifty years investigators
have begun to break through the ignorance, preconceptions, and lack of data
surrounding the prenatal and infant states to reveal a very different
picture of these early stages of life. This emerging view gives a broader
perspective on human consciousness and the intimate connections among human
beings, as well as new insights into the meaning and responsibilities of
parenthood.
Recent research on infants shows that even at birth the child has mastered
many sophisticated physical and psychological skills (Descriptions of these
findings appear in such books as Infant Culture by Jane and Joseph Jackson).
It is increasingly clear that the infant develops these skills in the
prenatal period. In The Secret Life of the Unborn Child (Thomas Verny, M.D),
Dr.Verny reports that the unborn child is not the passive, mindless creature
of the traditional pediatrics texts.
We now know that the unborn child is an aware, reacting human being who from
the sixth month on (and perhaps even earlier) leads an active emotional
life. Along with this startling finding we have made these discoveries:
The fetus can see, hear, experience, taste and, on a primitive level, even
learn in utero . . . Most importantly, he can feel -- not with an adult's
sophistication, but feel nonetheless. -- p. 12
The unborn's capacity for these activities can be seen in his physical
development. At the sixteenth week of pregnancy, for example, the child
becomes sensitive to light, though vision develops slowly in the dim,
confined prenatal environment. By the fourth month he has developed basic
reflexes and a repertoire of facial expressions. At five or six months he is
as sensitive to touch as a newborn. From the 24th week on he hears all the
time -- listening to the noises in his mother's body, and to voices, music,
etc. Between 28 to 34 weeks his brain's neural circuits are as advanced as a
newborn's and the cerebral cortex is mature enough to support consciousness;
a few weeks later brain waves, including those of REM dreams, become
distinct. Thus, throughout the third trimester he is equipped with most of
the physiological capability of a newborn.
Even more intriguing is evidence of the impact of the mother's and father's
attitudes and feelings on their unborn child. Based on the findings of many
other researchers as well as his own experience as a psychoanalyst, Dr.
Verny presents evidence that the attitude of the mother toward the pregnancy
and the child, as well as toward her partner, have a profound effect on the
psychological development of the child and on the birth experience.
Help! Someone started a discussion on my forums about birth and how it
shapes the baby as an individual. Of course, everyone thought that concept
was ludicrous, think studies and percentages are rubbish and must think I
am
a quack for thinking otherwise LOL :-) Can anyone else back me up?! I need
some support!!! If you aren't signed up in my forums, please feel free to,
or post here any suggestions or comments.
Creator, <http://www.bellybelly.com.au/> BellyBelly.com.au
Gentle Solutions From Conception to Parenthood
<http://www.bellybelly.com.au/birth-support>
<http://www.bellybelly.com.au/birth-support> BellyBelly Birth Support -
http://www.bellybelly.com.au/birth-support
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