Up until a few years ago, it was believed that the newborn possessed little, if any, awareness. However, recent infant research has confirmed that the newborn is an active, sensing, perceiving individual.
Other clinical studies of adults, regressed to the birth state, suggest that for many of us, birth was a highly stressed, traumatic time that we’ve never really recovered from. These observations have led to the growing belief that our current methods of birthing need to reflect an understanding of the newborn’s experience.
Traditional birthing methods seem to have little regard for the consciousness of the fetus, and newborn. Bright lights, chemicals, quick separation of the child from the mother, immediate cutting of the umbilical cord, and other insults to the mother’s and baby’s systems, often catapulted the child into shock; ignoring nature’s need for bonding in the earliest stages of development.
Fortunately, current methods, such as the LeBoye method, take the consciousness of newborns much more into consideration, and promise to lead to a whole new generation of children free from many of the shocks and traumas of birth.
Thomas Armstrong, Ph.D. is an award-winning author and speaker with twenty-eight years of teaching experience from the primary through the doctoral level, and over one million copies of his books in print on issues related to learning and human development. He is the author of nine books including Multiple Intelligences in the Classroom, In Their Own Way, Awakening Your Childâs Natural Genius, 7 Kinds of Smart, The Myth of the A.D.D. Child, ADD/ADHD Alternatives in the Classroom, and Awakening Genius in the Classroom. His books have been translated into sixteen languages, including Spanish, Chinese, Hebrew, Danish, and Russian.