Baby Welcoming Blog

An Introduction to the Baby Welcoming Blog

19th February, 2009 - Posted by admin - No Comments

Hi, Aloha, Shalom, Namaste`, Tashi Delek, Salaam, Hola, Ashe`, Ni Hao, Bon Jour, Hallo, G’day, Ke a`ku, Konnichi wa, Ciao:

Car Darshan

“Welcome to the Baby Welcoming™ blog. As inspiration and time allow, I look forward to communicating with you these “sound bites” on early-parenting, maternal wellness, experience-contingent prenatal development, and the use of sound as relevant to your child’s life trajectory. I have always had a great respect for the potency of sound and effects of music. It was a culminating experience while in the ocean that further propelled my focus on sound as a life path. It is also my compassion for children combined with my study of a new branch of knowledge called prenatal and perinatal psychology that has confirmed my experience that sound can have profoundly positive effects on maternal health, prenatal development and family happiness. This month I will be sharing my insights gleaned from a whale song, blips on prenatal psychology and fetal hearing, plus a local radio interview I gave that touched on these same topics. I hope my sharing inspires you to write your

Cecily’s Whale Tale

18th February, 2009 - Posted by admin - 1 Comment

Photographer: Lisa Denning (She is amazing. Check out her work!)

Years ago, while snorkeling with wild dolphins I heard whale sounds unexpectedly. The sounds were audible just a few feet below the ocean’s surface and that indicated the whale was in close proximity. Exposed to a whale’s sound for the first time, I listened intently to the wide range of foreign, yet emotionally nurturing, sounds. The deep tones played like a song in surround sound. My psychobiological system seemed to metabolize the long, sinuous, tonal sound waves as they moved through and around my body.

The sounds appeared to entrain my whole system to comfort, as if comfort was a sound frequency. The location and direction of the whale sounds were indiscernible, because the tones seemed to permeate all the water. The self-observations I noted, included (a) my body’s innate response to move into and float in fetal position, (b) the unusual sense that I was not separate from the water or sound, (c) the settling and calming of my body and mind, (d) the synchronizing of my breath and heart beat and, (e) the systemic change from low-level anxiety (related to old fear of deep water) to the emotional regulation of my nervous system.

During this timeless period, I considered the possibility that the effect of sound on babies in the womb could be similar to the neuropsycholgical effect the whale tones had on me in the ocean. I questioned whether nurturing sound during pregnancy soothes pregnant women and neuro-biologically nourishes their babies within the molecular chemistry of bonding and attachment, and overall calm. Hence the conception of my idea to create prenatal lullabies of sounds designed to calm, and support pregnant women’s neuro-emotional regulation and their developing babies.

FUN EXPERIMENT: Walk around with earplugs in your ears for 30 minutes. Notice how you experience hearing yourself drink water, eat and swallow, stretch your body, adjust your neck, knuckles, wrists, humm, read aloud, sing, etc. What do you notice? Post your observations. How might you relate this to the experience you or your child had in the womb?

Copyrighted 2009. All rights reserved.
This material was excerpted from Cecily’s master’s thesis (minus citations). If you wish to reference Cecily’s thoughts, research, and writing in communication with others it is necessary to get permission in writing first.  Request Permission

Cecily’s Window to the World

17th February, 2009 - Posted by admin - No Comments

Based on prenatal and perinatal psychology (PPN) research and writings, synthesized with my personal and professional experience with parents, babies, and young children, my view is that the two most vital traits to foster in children is the sense of knowing who they are and why they are here (ultimately to love and be loved). Attachment literature refers to this as a secure base, a secure sense of self. PPN therapists and practitioners have provided anecdotal reports and clinical research that indicate support during the prenatal and perinatal period promotes a coherent sense of identity evident in life choices and behaviors of children. It seems, if we are to foster healthy world citizens who comprise a coherent society then it is our responsibility to proactively develop and raise babies and children from a base of secure attachment.

Literature, research, and neurobioloy point to the understanding that a person’s belief that she/he is inherently safe in this world, and that their existence is a valuable, contributing factor to the whole, starts prenatally. Children can be born and raised with a sense of self intact, ready to continue building their character and strengthening their clarity of purpose and contribution. Children who grow to be adults who can think for themselves and ingeniously problem solve are able to innovate world-enhancing concepts and methods.

Copyrighted 2009. All rights reserved.
This material was excerpted from Cecily’s master’s thesis (minus citations). If you wish to reference Cecily’s thoughts, research, and writing in communication with others it is necessary to get permission in writing first.  Request Permission

Sound Babies

16th February, 2009 - Posted by admin - No Comments

Based on embryological literature and studies on fetal hearing it is reasonable to consider that the prenate ‘s womb experience encompasses all his mother’s words, tone, prosody, singing, yelling, crying, moaning, etc. The prenate has an organismic experience of the maternal sounds wherein his molecules, fluids, tissues, bones, and neural pathways are affected by his mother’s voice as it generates in her vocal chords and reverberates in her bones, organs, muscles, tissue, fluids, and nervous system.

The long, strong, vibrating tones likely feel like a massage for the baby. PPN literature establishes that babies have direct-experience through their viscera – cellularly and somatically. As discussed earlier, sound is not a cognitive process that requires cerebral memory processes, therefore prenates can experience sound preverbally and reference the sound stimuli or affect later in their developmental continuum.

Copyrighted 2009. All rights reserved.
This material was excerpted from Cecily’s master’s thesis (minus citations). If you wish to reference Cecily’s thoughts, research, and writing in communication with others it is necessary to get permission in writing first.  Request Permission

Baby Welcoming™ on Radio

13th February, 2009 - Posted by admin - 1 Comment

(((SOUND))) for Balancing, Creating, and Making Healthy Mommies & Babies

This is my first discussion on radio about Baby Welcoming™ and sound. It was a fun learning experience. To speak publicly, based on what I know intrinsically and by accumulated knowledge is for me an act of great courage, service, and liberation. In this world, the voice is a powerful tool. As a woman, compassion and vision move me to begin to use my voice, and this comes with both joy and vulnerability.

Tune in for a few minutes of January radio interview with Cecily Miller.

 

 A radio interview on local airwaves [57:16m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download