The classic image in the New Year where old Father Time represents the year that has just ended while the New Year’s baby appears on stage, announces the iconic star of a conference I attended in San Diego recently. Sponsored by the Association of Psychology and Prenatal and Perinatal Health (APPPAH), the international congress addressed scientific and psychosocial discoveries focused on “the conscious baby”.

Founded in 1983 by Canadian psychiatrist Thomas R. Verny MD and David Chamberlain PhD, APPPAH began as a small group of people who shared an interest in infant sensitivity and awareness.

Membership chair and parent educator Barbara Decker explains, “His premise is that babies are having experiences in the womb: welcoming or unwelcome, experiencing fear or love that are imprinting on the baby in the womb.”

Members agree that prenatal experiences in the womb, as well as labor, delivery, and breastfeeding, are formative for babies and parents, while establishing patterns of sociability that extend throughout life. life.

True to their mission to educate people, researchers present scientific discoveries to prove that babies are conscious and sentient beings. Evidence shows that what a baby experiences during conception, pregnancy and birth has lifelong consequences.

Dr. Verny’s keynote address opened the event and detailed advances in neuroscience and its relevance to prenatal and perinatal psychology. As Decker explained, “neuroscience is showing that chronic stress hormones coursing through the mother are effecting architectural changes in the baby’s brain, preparing it for a life of fear and protection instead of love and compassion. Conception and The next nine months until birth provide the foundation for healthy emotional intelligence and self-esteem or a life of fear and need for protection.”

Developmental researcher Katharine Monk, PhD, of Columbia University, presented important discoveries about what she calls “the mother-infant dyad during pregnancy.” Due to her brain development, the fetus perceives her mother’s life and is affected by it. Monk details how, by mid-pregnancy, most of the 80-90 billion neurons that we adults possess have already been produced. Neural migration (when neurons move to their locations) peaks in mid-pregnancy, and 40,000 new synapses are formed every second by the end of the third trimester.

By the third trimester, the motor, visual, auditory, frontal, and temporal networks of the fetus are operational. After birth, babies prefer their mother’s breast milk to that of another mother because the smell of amniotic fluid is similar to that of breast milk. Babies prefer her mother’s voice to another woman’s as after nine months together the baby has become accustomed to her mother’s own prosodic tones.

Monk points out that even though the fetus is hidden, it is still receptive to maternal transmissions and that this time presents an excellent opportunity for intervention. Neuroplasticity refers to how influences shape the brain throughout development. Monk cites research showing that brains have different shapes depending on how anxious the mother is during pregnancy. The mother tells her fetus, through cortisol that crosses the placenta, that she prepare for a dangerous world. The match between the baby and her environment considers whether the parents and the child are a good fit. If a reactive baby has a reactive mother, both will feel uncomfortable.

One intervention Monk has developed begins in pregnancy and focuses on three areas. These include, optimizing the regulation of the baby that he believes that a mother wants the best for her baby, so she learns tools that will help him sleep. Mindfulness is another focal point. This healthy practice is introduced to teach the mother skills to regulate her own subjective and physiological state. And finally, developmental and psychological education is included so the new mom knows what to expect from her baby.

Monk’s intervention, which she calls PREPP (Practical Resources for Effective Postpartum Parenting), begins with visits during pregnancy, after delivery, and throughout the postpartum period. Participating mothers have zero dropouts and staying the course reduces the incidence of postpartum depression by 50%. This robust protocol should be implemented everywhere. Her success is that she removes the stigma of seeking mental health treatment for postpartum depression and instead recognizes mother and child as a dyad: the intervention is for both.

The importance of the developing brain was highlighted by another speaker who is an expert in moral development.

Psychologist Darcia Narvaez, PhD from the University of Notre Dame presented her research “The Evolved Nest: What Children Need to Thrive.” Narváez considers the first 18 months of life to be a crucial time for brain development, indicating the need for an enriched protective environment that she calls the evolved developmental niche, also known as “the nest.”

Nest benefits include self-regulation, such as how the child copes with unexpected events and adapts to stress. The child that evolves from the protective nest evokes an agile intelligence to function in the world and with the world.

Nest components include a relaxing birthing experience; breast-feeding; responsiveness to baby’s needs; sweetie; outdoor play – to develop the implicit right brain; and adult caregivers who provide respite and training for new parents. According to Narváez, the context is (based on our brain development at birth) that we should be in the womb for another 18 months. When the nest is not provided, the baby suffers.

A soothing birthing experience includes connecting mother and baby with skin-to-skin contact immediately after birth to encourage lactation (milk defines us as mammals, meaning we have mammary glands). Human milk is thin, which means that babies must digest it frequently. Breast milk is live food and can detect through the baby’s saliva if the baby has a virus and the milk produces the antibody for the virus. If the baby weighs very little, breast milk detects it and gains more weight.

In summary, Narváez advises us to return tenderness to all relationships with young children and adolescents. The nest provides that tenderness and includes: soothing labor, breastfeeding on demand for babies, responsiveness (don’t let babies cry themselves to sleep as it creates cortisol that melts their neurons), affection (no spanking or coercion), free play outside, and caring adult caregivers who foster a positive climate so that the child feels loved. When the niche is provided, optimal development will be obtained.

Drs. The work of Verny, Chamberlain, Monk, and Narvaez does justice to APPPAH and represents the caliber of scholars contributing to the conversation. The association offers many educational opportunities, including an online course for educators in prenatal and perinatal psychology, as well as regional and international conferences. A visit to your website will present you with your stock media.