David Chamberlain - Windows to the Womb: Revealing the Conscious Baby from Conception to Birth

The Mind of Your Newborn Baby

Copyright 2013 by David Chamberlain. All rights reserved. No portion of this book, except for brief review, may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwisewithout the written permission of the publisher. For information contact North Atlantic Books.

Published by
North Atlantic Books
P.O. Box 12327
Berkeley, California 94712

Cover photo iStockphoto.com/xua
Cover design by Susan Quasha

Windows to the Womb: Revealing the Conscious Baby from Conception to Birth is sponsored by the Society for the Study of Native Arts and Sciences, a nonprofit educational corporation whose goals are to develop an educational and cross-cultural perspective linking various scientific, social, and artistic fields; to nurture a holistic view of arts, sciences, humanities, and healing; and to publish and distribute literature on the relationship of mind, body, and nature.

North Atlantic Books publications are available through most bookstores. For further information, visit our website at www.northatlanticbooks.com or call 800-733-3000.

MEDICAL DISCLAIMER: The following information is intended for general information purposes only. Individuals should always see their health care provider before administering any suggestions made in this book. Any application of the material set forth in the following pages is at the readers discretion and is his or her sole responsibility.

The Library of Congress has cataloged the printed edition as follows:
Chamberlain, David B. (David Barnes), 1928
Windows to the womb : revealing the conscious baby from conception to birth / David B. Chamberlain.
p.; cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
Summary: Combining new research findings with the wisdom of a lifetimes research, this work will provide a greater understanding of the minds of unborn childrenProvided by publisher
eISBN: 978-1-58394-569-8
I. Title.
[DNLM: 1. Maternal-Fetal Relations. 2. Consciousnessphysiology. 3. Fetusphysiology. 4. Pregnancypsychology. WQ 200.1]
618.2dc23

2012026215

v3.1

R attling around in my mind recently is a metaphor of watching a hugely important race. I have no idea how many others are watching with me. Unlike most races, it comes by at irregular intervals in recent decadesbut now getting closer and closer to a goal. I tease myself contemplating the impossible question of when this big race could have started and how close we may be to a satisfying conclusion. The race is about babies and how long it will take us to recognize who they really are.

This book celebrates the new facts of life that have been progressively integrated and clarified with the help of new technology, beginning with the drama of conception itself and the wonders of physical body construction. You will not find a blizzard of references because this is not intended as an academic text; instead my purpose is to offer scientifically based chapters in story form.

The facts I have gleaned from three decades of research about life in the womb are both unprecedented and illuminating; they are also revolutionary in challenging long-held myths in medicine and psychology.

Parents and grandparents who have been so intimately and intensely involved in the reproductive phase of life will find a host of new and fascinating facts about prenatal body language and the organic relationship of motion and emotion. Schoolteachers and childbirth educators will find ideas and applications for their work with infants, children, and adults.

Everyone will be surprised to read that science has taken us far beyond the classic five senses and that life in the womb involves at least a dozen senses! Other curious readers will find it astonishing that the prenate displays all forms of intelligence that are currently being analyzed in adults.

And who would think that prenates are learning constantly from their experiences in utero, regardless of the amount of brain matter they have at the time?

The emerging view of dynamic, responsive life in utero contrasts sharply with the failed view of fetal passivity and unconsciousness, calling for a redefinition of who babies are and what they can know and do.

Babies have taught me a lot, as I have been privileged to listen to their deep memories. As a psychotherapist, I am especially aware of the need to create babies that are mentally and physically healthy in order to have a world that is healthy and peaceful. Babies are the key to the future of the world. Obviously they will be replacing us and going on to have their own babiesbased on their experiences with us. I am also deeply aware that civilization itself is at a critical turning point and our babies will eventually have the responsibility to redefine civilizationif the word is to have any meaning in the future. Any society on earth is going to require great numbers of healthy, creative, and happy citizens (grown-up babies).

In short, the purpose of this book is to enlighten as many people as possible about the indispensable and irrepressible babyinnately affectionate, mysteriously precocious, multidimensional beings, capable of leading the gentle revolution in who we think we are and want to be. Perhaps the biggest surprise awaiting those in earnest pursuit of the truth about conscious babies is that discovering who they are is one more way of seeing and knowing who we are. Babies are us!

T he womb. You know that place. You have been therefor surebecause its how all of us get here.

By the clock, the momentous event of your conception may have happened in only minutes and the high drama of birth transpired within a matter of hours, but the normal time spent gestating in the filmy depths of your mothers womb is almost nine long months. In that stunning realm of orchestrated creativity you became embodied, furnished with all the basic equipment needed for life on planet Earth. If you could revisit and remember any of this astonishing period from conception to birthnot as impossible as it seemsyou would rate it as your most fantastic journey.

Under ordinary circumstances, not many people get to focus sharply on their personal adventures in the womb, but if you have already been a mom or dad, you may have come close to an initiation of sorts in the awesome and uncertain experience of having a baby. During that critical period you reshuffled your own images of who you were as a man or woman, and your relationship with each other began evolving because a new presence was looming larger and larger. You may have contemplated the nature of this new person or tried to strike up a conversationunsure if it made any sense to do so.

You flowed along with a silent but compelling process, passing hidden milestones, and putting up with the interminable slowness of growing and growing. Then with swelling heft and awkward gait came inevitable signs of the oncoming drama of labor and birthperhaps prompting doubt about your own readiness for parenting rather than curiosity about the nature of the mystery person tucked inside. Finally, you entered that time warp collapsing days to hours, minutes and seconds with emergence from the womb, the meeting of eyes, a spontaneous gasp, and confronting that brand new, expressive, wiggling, breathing baby!