It wasn’t too long ago, indeed for most of the twentieth century the consensus in the medical community was that the infant and most definitely the prenate was a relatively inanimate and even blank canvas, that their level of consciousness was very limited and that the formation of personality could only really occur at around 2-3 yrs of age.
Babies were assumed to be blind, unable to identify their mothers or their voices, had no temperature or pain sensitivity and perhaps most ignorantly of all that babies in the womb were not functionally equipped to remember, learn, process or adapt to their experiences in the womb.
Thankfully the fields of embryology and prenatal and perinatal psychology have expanded immensely.
Considerable exploration into pre-birth experiences and life inside the womb have begun to dispel these misheld beliefs about the realms of consciousness occupied by babies in spirit, in utero and as infants.
Researchers in these emerging fields are combining personal stories from parents about their preconception, pregnancy and birth experiences along with formal womb and foetology studies with clinical data from therapeutic techniques such as hypnosis and regression to create a more respectful and appropriate profile of the unique energy, sentience and soul purpose of the unborn child.
The question often postulated is “When exactly do babies become conscious?” Is it at the moment of conception, at a certain stage into the pregnancy, or is it only when the baby arrives earthside in its new body?
Speaking from an even higher perspective of consciousness, is it when a couple or even just the mother begins to consider or even imagine becoming a parent? Can a soul surround their parents even before conception?
Culturally there are of course many diverse beliefs and teachings that address this question. From the yogic point of view, there is a subtle connection that occurs between the cells of the embryo and the consciousness of the incoming soul at the time of connection.
They believe that at exactly 120 days after conception the soul comes in to fully inhabit the body it has been granted.
“On the 120th day, we give our women a blessing and tell them to meditate more, and look toward God, so that they may have a calm, quiet intelligent, self-creative children.“ Yogi Bhajan Women’s Camp 1979.
This same belief that the consciousness or soul essence of the baby enters the body in the fourth month of pregnancy is also held in the Muslim tradition, based on teachings found in the Qur’an.
In the Vedic tradition, it is believed that incoming babies go through a triple birthing of their soul consciousness. The father is believed to host the soul for sometime in his semen sac before it is released into the female during sexual union.
This is the first birthing of the soul. The soul then finds its way into the mother’s womb and becomes a part of her body and this is considered the second birthing.
Finally when the child emerges from the womb, with its own physical body, this is considered the third birthing of the baby’s soul.
In many African cultures mothers and parents communicate with the soul consciousness of their incoming babies well before conception.
There is a tribe in Africa called the Himba tribe. When a Himban woman decides she wants to have a child, she goes off to sit under a tree by herself and then listens until she can hear the song of the child she is calling in.
When she has heard the song of her child, she teaches it to the father and when they physically make love to conceive the child, they will sing this child’s song as their way to invite it into their lives!
“The body of a woman who is to conceive is being chosen as a channel for the expression of divinity into materiality. Although ovulation is a law of nature, conception is a law of God” Edgar Cayce.
This brings me to the concept of “Spirit Babies”, a term affectionately conceived (pun intended) by author Walter Mackichen in his book, “Spirit Babies. How to communicate with the child you’re meant to have.”
Many mothers report having a sense that the soul of their baby is hovering around them or that they can see or feel the baby in their auric field.
There are numerous accounts of mothers and fathers experiencing pre-conception and pre-birth communications and connections with their spirit babies or soul babies.
David Chamberlain PhD author of several amazing publications on prenatal awareness including “Windows to the Womb“ writes; “Although prenates have never been acknowledged for their psychic senses, they do demonstrate at least clairvoyance and telepathic sensing and attunement with parents whether they are near or far from each other, they know whether they are wanted or not, and discern the emotional disposition, and character of those around them. “
Communication and intimate connections with these spirit babies can occur during meditation, during dream states through intentional ritual practice or even quite consciously during everyday life for some parents.
The soul of the spirit baby will generally be open to connect and communicate when the parents are truly open to listening to their very specific vibrational and emotional needs.
Mother’s have an innate ability to tune into the energies of their conscious babies.
I believe that mothers are literally holding space for the development and integration of the secondary consciousness of their babies within their physical and energetic bodies and this can explain much of the dreaminess and vagueness that often accompanies pregnancy.
They are literally enmeshed in two fields of consciousness or awareness at the one time!
What we now know is that babies in the womb are extremely aware, sensitive, reactive and even vulnerable to emotional trauma from experiences in the womb. The unborn baby can see, hear, experience taste and learn in utero.
Ultrasound observations of behavior in the womb reveal that unborn babies can show strong emotion. Observations made between 16 and 20 weeks of gestation during the procedure of amniocentesis have revealed fearful and aggressive reactions including extreme fluctuations in heart rate and withdrawal from normal activity for a period of hours or even days.
Observation of twins via ultrasound have uncovered certain types of body language including holding hands, playing, kicking and touching each other through their amniotic sacs, the same types of behaviour have then been observed in these twins as babies and toddlers.
Documented case studies involving both children and adults who have undergone psychoanalysis or hypnosis have revealed the recall of very specific experiences, events and even arguments the mother has had whilst they were in the womb.
There are also thousands of accounts from individuals who have either spontaneously or under hypnosis remembered intricate details of the birth process itself that have been verified by their mothers.
There are even recorded accounts of individuals who have been able to specifically recall blending their spirit with the zygote at the point of conception.
These fascinating accounts provide indelible proof of the consciousness of the soul or spirit baby, in listening to children and adults who can recall these earliest memories, we can easily see that babies are indeed conscious and sentient entities from very early on in their embryonic development.
Spirit babies, womb babies and newborn babies are wondrous little beings of light and energy, we have much to learn from them, and we must remember that we were once like them.
We emerge from the infinite light of source, transfer our soul consciousness into form and expand the path of our soul through the process of physical incarnation onto this earthly plane.
This knowledge of the energy and unique consciousness of babies and the journey of the soul is what inspires me to bring greater understanding, awareness and respect to the fields of conception, pregnancy and birth.
I am in service to these babies and families shifting the paradigm of harsh and unconscious birth practice, one birth at a time.
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Katie Kempster – Hypnobirthing Facilitator
