We are not in a little lead box separate from our Mothers when we are developing. From week six of conception we are experiencing. We experience the food, emotions and sounds our mothers do, positive and negative.
If your Mother was stressed throughout fetal development then it will mark you. High stress levels will increase cortisol, serotonin & dopamine levels and it will have an effect on the fetal brain and overall development.

This also applies to addictions, nicotine, narcotics and alcohol affecting the expectant mothers neurotransmitters, which in turn affects the unborn child. An example of this is Fetal Alcohol Syndrome: physical and mental defects that can develop with high levels of alcohol consumption during pregnancy.

At week six, parts of our brain, spinal column and gut are more or less formed, so you can now understand how, when expectant mothers are stressed, anxious, worried or uptight, it will directly influence the unborn child and it will be hard-wired within their limbic systems (responsible for the fight or flight, emotion and long-term memories).

How delivery occurs will also have a huge impact on tissue memory, physically, emotionally and mentally throughout the life of the individual. Those of us who are females and are blessed to be mothers, will know the physical impact pregnancy and labor has on our bodies but think for a moment the physical and emotional impact the infant has to endure. After nine months in a secure, safe environment the time to evacuate the comfort of the womb will have come. The walls of the uterus push the baby through the birth canal, also having to rotate, so the head can squeeze through the mothers pelvis. This alone will effect the infant’s head, neck and jaw.

Those babies that are born posterior (back to back with the mother) will be prone to issues with neck, jaw, TMJ and head which can influence sleep, feeding and digestion (colic or acid reflux).

We then have to consider births that are what I call being ‘yanked into the world’. These are births that involve caesarean section, forceps or Ventose, which will cause further shock and stress to the cranium, neck and jaw. This also links to headaches and claustrophobia in adulthood.

The delivered infant then has to go through traumas of the outside world and the new experience of breathing independently. Fluid in the lungs is taken by the circulatory system, and is replaced by oxygen. The tiny lungs must now work hard to be able to exchange oxygen for carbon dioxide, which is when the first cry of emotion is given but it takes time for fluid to drain from the lungs, especially if the delivery is fast or if it was a ‘yanked into the world’ delivery, so again more stress to the lungs which can contribute to allergies or asthma in later years.

The body will certainly hold onto trauma which will manifest in all sorts of ways and have an impact on the well-being. The great news is Bowen can help. It’s incredibly helpful during pregnancy and babies. For more information email info@mariereynoldslondon.com

“Here we have a baby. It is composed of a bald head and a pair of lungs.”
– Eugene field –