Dynamics of Birth

One of the aspects Breathworkers/Rebirthers address in a session is what do you know about your birth? Did your parents want a boy or a girl? Were you planned, wanted, a long labour, fast birth, forceps used, a caesarean, cord around the neck, twins, was your mother anaesthetised etc.?

The reason for these questions has partly to do with the way you go through change and what you internalised about your first experience of change.. that of leaving the womb and entering the world. What was the environment like from conception to delivery?

In your life right now are there patterns that consistently show up whenever you go through change? Changes such as entering or leaving a job, a relationship, your residence, taking a holiday etc. In a typical hospital delivery you leave a warm, liquid environment with muted sounds, housed and nourished by your mother for nine months. You’re connected. All your needs are met. At birth you arrive into a brightly lit delivery room with a sharp drop in temperature (compared with the womb), the cord that connects you is (usually) hastily cut, you take your first breath sometimes held upside down, are slapped and then separated from your mother. All of this takes place in an atmosphere of emergency in the delivery room.

What does a baby do with this experience?

As you mature and grow up are you someone who feels safer being in your home than being out in the world - or vice versa? If, for example, the womb was toxic, or your mother was abused during pregnancy you may be someone who feels safer being out in the world than being at home. If forceps were used, do you trust support from others or does support feel like manipulation? Do you feel you don’t need anyone's help, you can do it yourself, or do you typically manifest someone to 'pull you out' of a situation and help you at the last minute. If you were a long labour do you tend to 'labour long' over accomplishing things or feel unsafe or uncomfortable moving through things quickly?