Sponsored by the American College of Orgonomy, medical orgonomist Theodota Chasapi, M.D. gave a presentation on The Roots of Love and Hate, The impact of Early Mother-Baby Bonding on Our Ability to Love, at the Princeton Public Library on October 2, 2010. She presented recent findings that confirmed many of the discoveries regarding newborns and infants made in the 1940’s and 50’s by Wilhelm Reich, M.D.
Applying Reich’s clinical findings on infants, Dr.Chasapi discussed the period of life from the intrauterine through the neonatal period. Characterized by intense emotional liveliness and responsiveness of the fetus to mother, she showed that this time was crucial in the future development of the human organism. For example, the various emotional states that are experienced in the mother’s daily life such as pleasure and anxiety were often reflected in the identical expressive movements (expansion and contraction) in the fetus. She reported that a healthy birth process is not simply the mechanical expulsion of the fetus from the mother’s womb but an active process in which both mother and fetus participate. She demonstrated that the newborn is not helpless as is commonly believed, but is able to crawl up the mother’s belly and find the nipple. Emphasizing the importance of maintaining emotional and physical contact between mother and newborn (orgonotic contact, Reich) during and following birth, she stressed the need to prevent disruption of this contact by well-meaning adults, such as removing the infant for tests.
There is another view of intrauterine life which has recently appeared, one that on the surface seems identical but on closer examination is quite the contrary (see How the First Nine Months Shape the Rest of Your Life in Time Magazine , October 4, 2010). Called Fetal Origins, it is the application of mechanistic/mysical principles to the study of fetal life where only physical, quantitive factors such as nutrition, pollutants, drugs and infections are considered the significant influences on healthy fetal development. Since emotions are not correctly understood by mechanistic scientists, these factors are mentioned only as in passing. Although the mechanical causes are real, the unrecognized emotional disturbances of the mother are the major causes of intrauterine fetal damage. Focusing primarily on these physical factors serves as an evasion of the emotional development of the infant.
October 6, 2010
Categories: Biological Sciences, Child Rearing, Medical Sciences . . Author: Charles Konia, M.D. . Comments: Leave a comment
Charles Konia, M.D. 