Pre- and Peri-Natal Anthropology II: The Puerperium in Cross-Cutural Perspective
Laughlin, Charles D.
Vol. 7 (1), 1992, 23-60

Modern pre- and peri-natal psychology recognizes that the period of life immediately after birth is significant for the future development of the human. This paper surveys the many ways different cultures interpret the puerperium, and the ways they treat the mother and infant and structure their interaction during this vulnerable period. Both holocultural, statistical summaries and individual case studies are reported, covering such issues as infant feeding patterns, mother-infant separation, isolation of mother and infant from the community, acceptance and rejection of the infant, the postpartum sex taboo, and other restrictions. This article extends the one that appeared in Vol. 3 (4), 1989.

The Shamanic Dimensions of Childbirth
Baker, Jeannine Parvati
Vol. 7 (1), 1992, 5-22

There is a growing awareness of the value of "irrational" or psychospiritual aspects of childbirth. Western psychotherapists and midwives are learning to take advantage of an openness to these aspects, which are essential to shamanic healing worldwide. This article explores the shamanic tradition and its advantages for pregnancy and childbirth. Healing practices among the Navajo, especially the Monster Way, are described.

A Theory of the Psychophysiological Consequences of Umbilical Cord Manipulation by the Fetus
Straub, Mary F.
Vol. 7 (1), 1992, 61-72

Imaging techniques have permitted us to observe the prenatal environment, and the human fetus has been caught in the act of grasping its umbilical cord. Fetal cord manipulation can be equated to self-stimulation. This act fortuitously initiates a primitive emotional conditioning and complements some phases of physical gestational development. It predisposes the fetus to emotional experience of a particular sort, and is a preliminary to the love-bonding so essential to the healthy maturation of all human children. The cord becomes a major "consoling presence" within the limited space of the fetus.

Physiological Effects of Neonatal Management
Garland, Kelduyn R.
Vol. 7 (1), 1992, 73-84

The resurgence of interest in the interrelationship and interdependence between the physiological and psychological aspects of being human and concern regarding attachment dynamics creates questions about the quality of care given newborns and the impact this care has on their ability to develop healthy attachments and personalities. This article addresses these issues in relation to how newborns are physically handled at birth, and the impact this has on their physical and psychological wellbeing--most specifically, how the obstetrical and postpartal procedures affect the connective tissues which have been found to be both physiological in substance and psychological in nature.

Obstetrical Procedures: A Critical Examination of their Effect on Pregnant Women and their Unborn and Newborn Children
Verny, Thomas R.
Vol. 7 (2), 1992, 101-112

Medical and social attitudes and practices pertaining to pregnant women and their unborn and newborn children are examined applying the scientific, sociological, psychosomatic and pre- and peri-natal perspectives. This article makes the case that high-tech tests and obstetrical procedures adversely affect the pregnant woman and her baby. Medical interventions tend to be dehumanizing, disempowering and sometimes harmful, leading the author to conclude that the application of these interventions should be limited to a small number of clinically high-risk pregnancies, not routinely administered to every pregnant woman.

The Parenting Process in the Prenatal Period: A Development Theory
O'Leary, Joann M.
Vol. 7 (2), 1992, 113-124

This paper develops a theory of the unborn baby's role during the prenatal period as an active instigator in the developmental process women progress through during pregnancy as they take on the parenting role. Adapting Arnold Gesell's work to the prenatal period, the author theorizes that the unborn baby's growth and development drives the development process of the parenting role prenatally. Pregnancy is viewed as the beginning of a lifelong process and a unique time when parents are especially open to exploring their changing roles with the baby as an equal contributor.

Pre- and Perinatal Experiences and Personality: A Retrospective Analysis
Irving-Neto, Robyn L., & Verny, Thomas R.
Vol. 7 (2), 1992, 139-172

In this study, 2,116 subjects from a variety of backgrounds and places of origin responded to a questionnaire concerning their pre- and peri-natal experiences and present personality. The article emphasized potential relationships between personality and maternal drug use during pregnancy and labor, maternal stress during pregnancy, birth type and physical placement immediately after birth. Non-parametric chi-square tests, t-tests and point biserial correlations yielded little support of the specifically delineated hypotheses; however a variety of statistically significant results were found for the more general hypotheses, lending support to the overall postulate that different pre- and peri-natal experiences are related to different personality traits.

Are Telepathy, Clairvoyance and "Hearing" Possible in Utero? Suggestive Evidence as Revealed during Hypnotic Age-Regression Studies of Prenatal Memory
Cheek, David B.
Vol. 7 (2), 1993, 125-138

Evidence supplied through age-regression studies of adults based on a combination of ideomotor techniques and hypnosis suggests that telepathy, clairvoyance and some form of hearing are perceptions available to the fetus from the emotional moment its mother knows she is pregnant onward. Fetal interpretation of maternal communications may be mistaken as rejection. The author speculates that telepathic commands between mother and immature young probably have survival value for lower mammals. The mechanism for silent warning and absolute obedience needs completion before birth. Search methods and ways of reframing negative imprints are presented.

Man, the Womb and the Sea: The Roots of the Symbolism of Water
Odent, Michel
Vol. 7 (3), 1993, 187-194

Water has always been a powerful symbol for humans, and water is critical to life. The human fetus grows in amniotic fluid, and the scientific context of the 1990s suggests that although Homo Sapiens is genetically related to the chimpanzees, Homo sapiens have adapted to a particular environment through a land-sea interface. In this paper the origins of the power of water symbolism are explored, particular in the context of birth.

Pre- and Postnatal Repercussions of Handicapping Conditions upon the Narcissistic Line of Development
Sossin, K. Mark
Vol. 7 (3), 1993, 195-214

Using case histories, this paper examines narcissistic difficulties experienced by handicapped youngsters, especially the extent to which they are anchored in pre-, peri- and early post-natal experiences that were cast in the molds of parental narcissistic vulnerability and of impediments to the infantile attainment of a core sense of self. Considerations pertain to relatively generalizable consequences of infant handicap, encompassing the potential effects of a broad range of developmental disabilities on narcissism.

Being Born Caesarean: Physical, Psychosocial and Metaphysical Aspects
English, Jane
Vol. 7 (3), 1993, 215-230

Only in roughly the last century has there been an appreciable population who have not had the hitherto universal experience of labor and delivery, the trip down the birth canal. In 1882, the caesarean delivery became a reasonably safe procedure for both the mother and the child. Now, a little over 100 years later, this author examines the psychological, social and spiritual aspects of the experience of being born caesarean, especially in light of research showing the importance of the birth experience on self-image and world view.

The Effect of Lovemaking on the Progress of Labor
Moran, Marilyn A.
Vol. 7 (3), 1993, 231-242

Many scientists and researchers have remarked that birth is a sexual experience, a discovery noted by countless young couples who have used sex during the conjugal act of birth in the seclusion of their bedrooms. Passionate kisses, nipple stimulation, perineal massage and support, clitoral stimulation and coitus early in labor provides seminal fluid rich in relaxon (the hormone responsible for "extraordinary separation" of the public bones as well as softening the cervix), constituting the means for achieving the desired end. This article finds support for many of these natural birth facilitators in the medical literature.

The Role of the Mother's Own Experience of Being Born in Giving Birth
Mehl, Lewis E.
Vol. 7 (3), 1993, 243-260

This paper hypotheses that the woman's own experience of being born will have an impact on how she will give birth. This impact is proposed to occur primarily through the birth story as symbol for a socialization process, in which the woman learns how to view her body and Nature and how to react to her sensations of labor. Clinical material is presented emphasizing the complexity of psychophysiological learning in a cultural context. Psychotherapy can help women undo the effects of socialization through providing them with new symbols.

Adoptees and Birth Parents Connected by Design: Surprising Synchronicities in Histories of Union/Loss/Reunion
Stiffler, La Vonne H.
Vol. 7 (4), 1993, 267-286

The recently burgeoning phenomena of search and reunion by adult adoptees and their birth families has uncovered uncanny coincidences that occurred during the years of separation. In this inquiry, synchronicity as an acausal principle of the unconscious organizing of archetypes (Jung) or as a unifying correlation of affinity (Kammerer) may be balanced with causality: the psychology of separation and loss reactions; prenatal memory; identity and the loss of self; a system in need of information; the architecture of developmental behavioral genetics; and cognitive meaning-making from numinous experience.

The Role of Mental Representations in Predicting Mother-Infant Interaction
Trad, Paul V.
Vol. 7 (4), 1993, 287-312

Research has revealed that neonates possess innate capacities such as categorization and amodal perception that help them formulate representations of self and other. This paper posits that in order to formulate these representations, the infant also require exposure to a motivational environment that provides insight into relationships between people. "Previewing," a process deriving from the interaction between caregiver and infant, contributes to understanding how the caregiver's predictions are transferred to the infant, fostering the infant's achievement of a coherent sense of self and an adaptive social interaction with the caregiver.

My First Heartbeat
Vlcek, Jaroslav
Vol. 7 (4), 1993, 313-320

The author presents a recollection from memories of his prenatal life as a narrative poem, then gives a personal and transpersonal interpretation of it in the adult-life context, proposing a theory of how an unborn may start its heart and what it learns from the experience drawing on myth, religion, folklore, art and history.

Prebirth Memory Therapy, including Prematurely Delivered Patients
Turner, John-Richard, & Turner, Troye
Vol. 7 (4), 1993, 321-332

This paper focuses on prebirth and perinatal memories encoded for full-term and premature infants and activated as possible pathology during adult life. It recapitulates briefly the hypothesis that no only do humans inherit genetic coding from their parents but also their mental and emotional states in the form of non-conscious emotional reaction patterns from gestation, birth, and the perinatal period. By recognizing the source of this reservoir, patients can stop blaming themselves, parents, governments, and/or God, and willingly take responsibilities for their own lives. Two case histories are given.