ABSTRACT: While Intrigued by the fascinating new research
coming out of the field of pre- and perinatal psychology on the reliability
of birth and prebirth memory, the author conducted an exploratory study
of such memory by interviewing children between the ages of two-and-one-half
to three-and-one-half years. While not intending to be a rigorous
scientific study, the study produced both verbal and nonverbal responses
that are provocative and intriguing in support of the premise that at least
some children of this age group are capable of recalling and articulating
some of their birth and prebirth experiences. Children gave answers
that seemed to describe pre- and perinatal biological events. More
intriguing was their use of terms and images that were striking in their
uniqueness—while making sense from a child’s, baby’s, or fetus’s perspective—and
therefore seemed untainted by adult interpretations. Events that
appeared to be recalled and described included sensory experiences while
in the womb, the birth or removal (in the case of cesarean) from the womb,
the cutting of the umbilical cord, perceptions of people and things (e.g.,
the amniotic sac) after delivery, and the removal of the vernix.
Some children also exhibited meaningful body language, e.g., raising of
the legs into fetal position, during questioning. Perhaps most provocative
of all were the answers to the question of “Where were you before you were
born?” These ranged from “in the sky” and “in a machine” to “in the
pink shirt” (that his mother wore early in her pregnancy). There
is some evidence that children may benefit emotionally from recalling their
birth experiences; some guidelines for talking with one’s child are presented.
While this study can only be considered suggestive—and it calls for a more
rigorous study to flesh out and define what here can only be termed possibilities—along
with the flurry of other recent research in this area of early memory it
points to an expansion of human awareness into realms previously thought
unreachable and to a possibility of reclaiming memories that are part of
our being, having impact on our lives that requires awareness and understanding.2
Evidence for “Long” Memory
Think back to your life as a young child. What is the earliest
memory you can recall? Recent research seems to indicate that we
are capable of much earlier memories than previously believed . . . extending
to the experience of birth itself and, amazingly, even prior to birth.
These possibilities have been cogently presented by Thomas Verny (1981)
in his book, The Secret Life of the Unborn Child, and by David Chamberlain
(1988) in his work, Babies Remember Birth.
Chamberlain’s book is based primarily on his work with adult clients
under hypnosis. These clients seemed to produce memories of being
born and to know details about the surroundings and people who were present,
neither of which they were aware of in normal consciousness. This
so intrigued Dr. Chamberlain that he designed a study to compare the memories
of these “adult children” with those of their mothers and other people
who were present at their births, as well as with written records of the
event. The result was that he found the accounts were very much in
accord with each other. In fact, to his astonishment, in cases where
he found discrepancies between the memories of the adult child and the
mother, often the adult-child’s version seemed more in accord with other
evidence.
Thomas Verny (1981) has presented the possibilities of recalling
birth memories suggested primarily through anecdotal evidence. These
were first brought to his attention by spontaneous memories emerging from
his clients in primal therapy and, later, in the form of correspondence
from parents regarding statements from their young children about their
births. Dr. Verny’s work led him to conclude that children aged two-and-one-half
to three-and-one-half were most likely to articulate these memories.
Earlier than age two-and-one-half most children do not have the verbal
ability to convey their memories and later than three-and-one-half these
memories seem to fade into the unconscious realm.
The Exploratory Study
My own interest in the subject began in 1987; I was teaching prenatal
yoga classes and came across Dr. Verny’s book. I was fascinated by
the idea of birth and prebirth memory and decided that I wanted to do further
work in the area of the prebirth experience. I contacted Dr. Verny’s
office, learned about the association that has recently renamed itself
the Association for Pre- and Perinatal Psychology and Health (APPPAH),
and attended their 1989 congress. There I met and had a chance to
consult with Dr. Verny about a research project I had in mind. He
suggested interviews with children in the appropriate age group concerning
their birth memories.
This study took place in Denver, Colorado, in the fall of 1990 and
included interviews with twenty-nine children. These interviews were
conducted in local day-care centers in most cases and in some cases in
the children’s homes. In all cases parents were contacted before
and after the interviews. While this study was only exploratory and
was not intended to produce definitive results by adhering to rigorous
scientific protocols, my subjective impression, from conducting the study,
is that these interviews are provocative and intriguing in support of the
premise that children age two-and-one-half to three-and-one-half are capable
of recalling and articulating their memories of birth and prebirth experiences.
The following excerpts from the interviews are presented for the reader’s
consideration.
Verbal Responses
Interview No. 4: A three-year-old boy
Interviewer: “How small were you when you were
in mommy’s tummy?”
Child: “This small.” (Indicating with both hands, bringing
the thumbs and forefingers together to form a small diamond.)
I: “What did you do while you were in mommy’s tummy?”
C: “I played.”
I: “When you decided to come out, how did you get out?”
C: “There was a hole down there.”
I: “What was it like?”
C: “It was long, and there was light.”
I: “Was it hard to get out?”
C: (Holding his head with both hands and nodding) “Yes.”
Interview No. 5: A three-and-one-half-year-old
girl
I: “What happened when you came out of mommy’s
tummy?”
C: “The man wiped that stuff off of me and wrapped
me in a blanket . . . and now I’m big and I’m a Koala (the name of her
age group in preschool).”
Note: This child’s mother later reported a conversation
with the child in which the child replied to the same question with the
response, “The man cut that thing off me,” indicating her belly button.
Interview No. 10: A three-and-one-half-year-old
boyof love
I: “What was it like in mommy’s tummy?”
C: “Things bumped me.”
I: “Could you hear anything?”
C: “It’s like fish . . . gluck, gluck.”
I: “That’s wonderful. Can you tell me anything else
about it?”
C: “They pushed me out.”
I: “Who pushed you out?”
C: “Man.”
I: “Man?”
C: “Yes, mans.”
I: “What happened when you were pushed out?”
C: “I hurted.”
Note: In the followup telephone call with this child’s
mother, she reported that his birth had been an emergency cesarean.
Interview No. 21: A three-year-old girl
I: “When you decided to come out of mommy’s
tummy, how did you get out?”
C: “Mommy told the doctor to get me out.”
I: “What did you do while you were in mommy’s tummy?”
C: “Nobody, I was all alone.”
I: “When you came out, what was the first thing you
saw?”
C: “A piece of balloon.”
I: “Where was it?”
C: “It was backwards.”
Note: The piece of balloon might refer to the amniotic
sac.
Interview No. 22: A three-and-one-half-year-old
boy
I: “What was it like in mommy’s tummy?”
C: “It was like the light was turned down.”
I: “What else can you tell me about that?”
C: “It was like looking for fish. It was kind of hot
in there.”
I: “Were you comfortable? Did you fit in there?”
C: (With a disdainful look) “I was a baby.”
I: “How did you get out?”
C: “Mans pulled me out.”
I: “How did that feel?”
C: “It kind of hurted. I was kind of crying, but I
was laughing.”
It is my opinion that the above interview results demonstrate replies
about the child’s experience that were from that child’s point of view
and are not based on something they might have heard. The replies
seem to come from very personal experience, untainted by adult-style interpretations.
Of course, this is a subjective evaluation on my part. However, the
interviews that follow, while they produced results that are very interesting,
could possibly have come from something the child had heard from others.
Interview No. 16: A three-and-one-half-year-old
boy
I: “Do you remember being in mommy’s tummy?”
C: “I made mommy’s tummy really big because I was a
big baby.” (He further indicated that it was the lower part of her
tummy that he made big.)
I: “Did you hear anything when you were in mommy’s tummy?”
C: “No. I cried a little . . . and I dropped out.”
I: “You dropped out? How did you do that?”
C: “I just went plop and I made a hole in her tummy.”
Note: This child was delivered by cesarean. The mother
indicated that she had discussed this with him previously.
Interview No. 20: A three-and-one-half-year-old
boy
I: “What was it like in mommy’s tummy?”
C: “It was like swimming.”
I: “How did you get out of mommy’s tummy?”
C: “I popped out.”
I: “Who was there when you came out?”
C: “Mom was, and Dad was, and you were.”
Note: This child is my grandson, and I was present at his
birth. In an earlier conversation with his mother, when she asked
where he was before he was born, he replied, “I was a bird flying around
the sky, and then I was in the hospital and Grandma was there.” When
she asked him what it was like after he was born, he said, “They poked
me,” indicating his heel. He was jaundiced and had multiple pokes
for blood tests.
Interview No. 23: A girl just under four years
I: “How did you get out of mommy’s tummy?”
C: “I poked out my head . . . my hair came first.”
I: “Who did you see when you came out?”
C: “I was born (pause) after I was born (pause).
When is my mommy coming?”
Further attempts to return to the subject of her birth were not successful.
One particular question, among the children in general, elicited
some rather provocative responses. The question was, “Where were
you before you were born?” The answers included, “In the sky.”
“I was a bird.” “I was an airplane.” The most interesting response
was, “I was in a machine, and the machine made me into a baby.” One
child interviewed at home responded to this question by going to get a
photograph album and, showing me a picture of his mother early in her pregnancy
wearing a pink shirt, said, “In the pink shirt.”
Nonverbal Clues
In addition to the verbal responses obtained during these interviews,
I also noted nonverbal clues. For example, in the very first interview
the child—a boy just under age three—became increasingly sad and quiet
once we got past the initial getting-acquainted phase of the interview
and began questions concerning his birth. As this progressed, I apologized
for making him sad and asked if he would like to hear a story. The
interview was terminated after the story. Later telephone contact
with his mother revealed that he had experienced a very difficult birth.
I also noted that five of the children assumed a seated fetal position
with their knees drawn up to the chest, soon after the questions regarding
their birth commenced. Other children were extremely skillful in
avoiding responses to any questions regarding their birth experience and
quickly changed the subject. This seemed to be correlated with difficult
births, but further confirmation would be required for this to be any more
than speculation on my part.
Benefits, Guidelines, Possibilities
Aside from sheer fascination, what does it matter if children sincerely
remember these experiences? Postinterview results suggest that children
included in the study may benefit from having discussed their birth memories.
One child, in particular, seemed to release some trauma after the interview
with a prolonged and otherwise unexplainable crying spell, followed by
a greatly improved mood. Subsequent to the interviews, several of
the mothers reported that the children seemed to want to bring the subject
up for further discussion.
For parents wishing to explore their own child’s memories, I suggest
the following guidelines: One of the best environments for this conversation
to take place is while bathing the child. A good opening question
is, “Where were you before you were born?” From here, let the child
describe the scene and lead the conversation. Your own curiosity
will be your best guide to appropriate questions, as long as they arise
from the child’s statements. At all times, avoid leading the child
or pressuring for a response. Plenty of opportunities will arise
for this type of discussion.
This is a fascinating new field of study. Retrieving prenatal
and birth memories is one example of the expansion of human awareness into
realms previously thought unreachable. This frontier promises the
possibility of reclaiming memories that are part of our being and have
impact on our lives that requires awareness and understanding.
References
Chamberlain, David. (1988). Babies Remember Birth. Los Angeles:
Jeremy P. Tarcher.
Verny, Thomas, with John Kelly. (1981). The Secret Life of the Unborn
Child. New York: Dell.
Biographical Note
JEANE RHODES, Ph.D., is a practicing psychotherapist
and college Professor. She formerly was a yoga instructor and active
in local, national, and international yoga organizations, serving
both as Treasurer and as President of Yoga Teachers of Colorado and as
Financial Administrator for Unity In Yoga International. Her master's
thesis, titled "Mind Made Visible: Psychotherapeutic Application
of Yoga Asana," brought this experience with yoga into her psychology studies.
Interest in pre- and perinatal psychology led to interviews with
young children regarding their birth memories. Research continued
with her Ph.D. dissertation, which explored the prenatal expression of
yoga postures and subsequent echoes in the body of prenatal and birth experience.
Her therapeutic approach is based upon the koshas and includes techniques
designed to address each of these levels of existence for clients.
At the core of this is the exploration of prenatal and birth experience
as a bridge from the spiritual realm to the physical realm of existence.
Jeane can be e-mailed at Drjeane@aol.com
Copyright © 1996 by Jeane Rhodes
1. Editor's Note:
This paper contains information that was originally presented, in a longer
article, in the Fall 1991 issue of Pre- and Perinatal Psychology Journal
6(1), pp. 97-103. The details and circumstances of the study in
question here are presented in the longer version in a more comprehensive
way, and it is suggested that those who are interested in those aspects
look to that version. The intention of this paper—presented here
in this form—is to be suggestive (certainly not definitive), especially
in relation to the information presented elsewhere in this issue on “birth
and violence.” [return to text]
2. Editor's
Note: This article was originally published in Primal Renaissance:
The Journal of Primal Psychology, Vol. 2, No. 1, Spring 1996, pp. 59-64.
Reprinted with permission. [return to text]
