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Conscious Childbirth
A Wholistic Perspective
Da Vid, MD, Director, The San Francisco Medical Research Foundation
(Reprint of Coastal Post, January 1, 1995)
Each child in essence a recapitalization of the entire story of the history and development
of life here on Earth. Each childbirth, from conception to delivery, is in fact a
re-enactment of the nativity scene as depicted in the Bible. Each child, boy or girl,
is a Christ child. Each mother is in reality one with “Mary,” the Universal mother,
Goddess, each father, “Joseph,” is one with the Universal Father - God. The child,
the son or daughter, a living soul, is in essence one with the Christos, the son
- the central ego of humanity who is eternally one with the father/mother/God. Infinite
creative life intelligence working through its creative expressions, you and I, brings
forth new life, so as to evolve and experience its understanding of itself.
Each new incarnating soul has the power and potential inherent within itself, within
the DNA coding of its cells to fully manifest the indwelling creative principle of
life . . . to be fully creative here on Earth. Such is the inheritance and potential
of every newborn child. It is within the context of this understanding that we need
to examine very closely current birthing practices. What I am proposing here is an
enlightened approach to New Age birthing practices based upon the following:
The awareness that the incarnating soul, chooses its parent to be the vehicle for
its new Earth experience. Parents do not own or possess their children, but through
inner, subconscious agreements, sacrificial love and the desire for conscious growth
have accepted the responsibility to provide to the best of their ability an environment
and an education which fosters the evolving soul’s journey in consciousness.
The psycho/physiological status of the mother is of crucial importance in the formation
of the body of the incarnating spirit. It is highly recommended that the mother be
supported and nurtured during this time of inner growth. Her thoughts, feelings,
emotions, and nutritional status help create the form of the body of the individualizing
ego, as well as being a determining factor in the psychological make-up of the indwelling
spirit. She is creating through the genetic inheritance of the father, along with
her psychological attitude, the body of the newborn.
Through profoundly complex spiritually engineered and directed subconscious process,
the body of the new child is being created within her. Her mental/emotional attitude
has a direct and profound effect on these organic subconscious processes. Through
awareness, her conscious attitude and actions can either facilitate or detract from
the subconscious growth of the embryo within her womb. It is at this time that the
mother is in full blessedness and radiance as nature proceeds inexorably in her Great
Work. Through sensitivity, common sense, applied knowledge, and aesthetics each and
every parent is given the opportunity of providing an environmental milieu which
will truly enhance the development of the child. Through education, the expectant
parents prepare themselves for childbirth. Childbirth is a natural process which
does not necessarily have to be difficult and/or painful. Childbirth is a supremely
natural event — and it is encumbent upon us to educate ourselves into this realization.
Creative Childbirth - Birth Without Violence
Leading obstetricians and educators such as Frederick LeBoyer, Joseph Clinton Pierce,
and Maurice Odent, M.D. have been educating their fellow colleagues over the past
decade into a new awareness regarding a more sensitive approach to childbirth. Today,
a re/evolutionary birthing practice is being simultaneously pioneered in France and
in Russia. This profoundly simple wholistic birthing technique is revolutionary in
its simplicity and in its ramifications. In essence, it is a water birth - the newborn
is born into water - a water baby.
The fetus for nine months has been living in a celestial consciousness, a world of
peace and quiet - fully supported in a protective aquatic environment developing
and growing moment-by-moment - preparing for the emergence into a new life - it is
about to make a dramatic transition into a totally new environment - a new world
- from a water celestial environment into an air-breathing terrestrial environment.
The physiological and psychological adaptation into this new environment is profound.
Being born is the premier event in everybody’s life. Our initial experience upon
entering into our new world, our new environment is indelibly impressed into our
subconscious minds. The memory trace of these first moments are recorded and impressed
into the newborn child’s nervous system. The child’s nervous system is an open template
inordinately receptive to visual, auditory, gustatory, olfactory, and tactile experience.
It only makes good common sense to provide the new being with a totally positive
experience. The psycho/physiological consequences of a positive life enhancing introduction
into this new world cannot be over-emphasized. This initial impression is carried
through the terrestrial experience of the child. I believe as do others that our
relative success or inability to successfully adapt to this world can be traced in
part to the initial birthing experience.
Upon delivery into this world we are an open book - let us create for this new Christ
child a positive greeting, a life-enhancing experience which supports and mirrors
the inherent inner awareness and experience of the newborn child. The newborn child,
as stated, is living in a heavenly world, a world of profound beauty and peace, a
magical, musical world, in communion with reality.
The divine plan for humanity is Heaven on Earth. Heaven is a state of consciousness,
a frequency, a resonance that is peaceful and harmonious. Heaven on Earth shall be
realized and expanded by the succeeding generations of water babies who have not
been shocked out of higher consciousness. Mind you, this is not to say that because
many of us have suffered traumatic and unconscious births, that there has been irreparable
damage. Fortunately, the Mind has the means to heal itself, however, it makes good
sense not to inflict any unnecessary pain or discomfort upon the newborn child. In
light of current psychological knowledge and our remembering of nature’s implicit
simplicity, we will move away from unnecessary drugs, harsh lights, rushed deliveries,
and antiseptic, sterile environments. I am not advocating a complete dismissal of
technology, what I am advocating is awareness to the subtleties and inherent intelligence
of nature acting through woman to return us to a state of awareness and respect for
the sacred divinity of emerging life.
As conscious sentient beings who have the unique ability of begetting life, it is
time to apply our intelligence to all facets of our life. And what could be more
important than ecological childbirths? The answer is there — Water Baby births.
The Process
The players are the mother, the father, the attending midwife, and/or attending
physician. The mother is placed in an aesthetically pleasing environment, soft lighting
with incense “frankincense and myrrh,” with or without beautiful meditative or celestial
music. The mother is placed in a tub of warm water which approximates in temperature
and osmolarity of the amniotic fluid as found in her womb, 98.6 degrees F. This serves
two very important function:
The warm water, soft lighting, beautiful music, and delightful aromas relax the mother,
thereby facilitating and assisting in a natural and smooth childbirth.
By being born into water, the child’s transition from the womb (Heaven) to Earth
is hardly noticeable to the child. The child is given the opportunity of making a
gradual, smooth, and subtle adjustment to the new environment. It is recommended
that the umbilical not be cut immediately. The emphasis here is on allowing the delivery
to unfold in its own time. There is no rushing of the process.
The next step is of profound importance and concerns itself with the concept of bonding
of the newborn child with his or her mother and father. The initial loving contact
(bonding) with the father and the mother is a necessary ingredient for ensuring and
enhancing the psychological integration of the newborn child. Current progressive
psychological research is strongly alluding to the realization that much of the psychopathogy
and alienation as seen in our culture and in our world is in part due to our current
birthing practices. Unless there is a medical emergency which requires immediate
technological intervention, the newly born child should in no way be taken away and
isolated from its parent.
The initial love, caring, compassion, and concern on the part of the delivery team
has a profound impact upon the developing and emerging psyche of the newborn child.
The process of bonding is simple. The child is initially held and makes first identification
with the father’ from this moment the child is given over to the mother for nurturance
and sustenance.
The breast feeding process is begun. Breast milk, besides being of the highest quality
nutrition available to the child, is rich in antibodies and is essential for establishing
and maintaining the integrity of the developing immunological system, i.e., the thymus
gland. In summation, the water baby in conjunction with breast feeding is the manifestation
of wisdom and understanding. It is truly wholistic. It is a safe, simple, and natural
process. The future will bear out the truth that this re/evolutionary technique may
well bee an initiating seed for bringing the Earth spirits who in their humanness
remain consciously aware of themselves and their inherent Godliness.
Da Vid, MD Medical Director The San Francisco Medical Research Foundation
20 Sunnyside Avenue, Suite A-156 Mill Valley, CA 94941
The Waterbirth Website
www.waterbirthinfo.com
This site provides in-depth information on the use of water for labor, childbirth,
and early childhood development. It includes fascinating information from the world’s
leading waterbirth pioneers, product information on ordering the WATER BABY video
documentary and Waterbirth Providers List, dozens of personal waterbirth stories,
a Waterbirth Photo Gallery, and lots more!
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