Fwd: Birth - A Rite of Passage

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Birth - A Rite of Passage

Fri, 17 Feb 2006 22:49:18 -0000

 

Birth – A Rite of Passage

 

By Clare Lincoln, RSHom, RCSTA

 

 

On 10th March this year, South West London Homeopaths (SWELHoms) will be

hosting a seminar at the Kairos Centre in Roehampton, featuring Michel Odent.

Many will know him as the obstetrician who did so much to bring more humanity

and love back into birthing practices in this country, and throughout Europe,

and thus re-empowering both mother and baby at a time of technological

encroachment. He is author of many books on the subject and has also

established the Primary Health Research Unit whose findings indicate that those

early experiences from conception to one year are crucial in establishing

healthy life patterns.

 

 

How does this particularly impact upon our work as homeopaths? As we all

know, working with babies and young children provides a unique opportunity to

resolve many of the difficulties that can become imprinted early in life and can

go on to affect our full development and potential as we mature. What I was not

fully aware of until comparatively recently however, is just how important the

pre natal period, and the period during and immediately after birth was in terms

of establishing and reinforcing patterns of behaviour for the rest of our lives.

I say reinforce because it is of course likely that the miasmatic susceptibility

to have a particular natal experience pre-exists the actual experience.

However, in the primary period (conception to one year) we are looking at

abounding numbers of exciting causes which have increased greatly over the past

few decades with the growth in the rate of interventions, drugs and hormonal

treatment all of which establish their own patterns of

ill health.

 

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:

 

 

that babies did not remember their earliest experiences in the womb, during

birth and afterwards;

that during that time babies did not feel pain (hence operations performed on

infants and neonates without anaesthetic).

that birth was just a mechanical process aimed at getting the baby out and no

pain could be felt.

 

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 homeopathic remedy but which

often do not respond to that remedy.

 

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:

 

 

Intense rage about forceps and being stuck for a long period of time

They have felt stuck in their jobs,

have a fear of dying

I’m going to die if I don’t get out of this job/out of here

Phobic about control

Inconsistent task performances

Boundary difficulties

 

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 SWELHoms seminar on 10th March):

 

‘ … 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 or telephone Clare Lincoln on 020 8946 2650

 

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