“The embryo is the human being expressing itself.” Jaap Van Der Wal, MD

“I think I can feel my baby move,” Whitney said, her dewy blue eyes wide with anticipation. Her voice rose at the end, turning her sentence into a query. She was a few weeks shy of the second trimester of her second successful pregnancy. Exuberantly curious, she sought validation for her awareness. Whitney was more confident with this baby than her first, but on the issue of whether or not she in fact could detect her baby’s movement, she was uncertain.

The delivery of Whitney’s first child was by caesarean section. At the time, and now in retrospect, she questioned the procedure. It had evoked a prolonged and recurring experience of loss. She nstead of reacting to it.

Moments later Whitney determined that only she could address her uncertainty about her baby’s movement. When she inquired inside, the answer was definitely, yes, she could feel her baby move. In her first pregnancy, she would have accepted her doctor’s response. Having traversed the painful territory of post-partum depression that she now correlated specifically with the unnecessary caesarean, Whitney had become much more confident in her feminine wisdom. She could honor her hormonally endowed attunement to herself and her child. She was alert to her own tendency to collude in an institutionalized disempowerment of mothers.

As she reflected further on Dr. Carlson’s response, Whitney wondered what kind of relationship she could have with a doctor who did not trust a mother’s experience. Whitney dialogued with her unborn child. Silently, but with passion, she said to her baby, “I recognize your movement and I love it! I’m sorry I was not more confident earlier.” Her baby moved, subtly but clearly, spreading out, stretching with relief in utero.

EARLY MOVEMENT

“The growing gestures of the embryo and the fetus are the gestures of the soul.” Dr. Erich Blechschmidt

“Movements of the embryo and fetus are a fundamental expression of early neural activity,” says embryologist Jan Nijhuis in his groundbreaking book Fetal Behavior. “The fetus of 8-10 weeks post-menstrual age moves spontaneously in utero under normal circumstances.”

Prenatal movement in the first trimester, and then the patterns of movement that form in the second trimester, are the expression of the developing baby’s nervous system. This primary neurological unfolding is nourished and enhanced by parental awareness, dialogue and subtle touch on the mother’s body that communicates to the baby. The entire family can participate in this encouragement. The knowledge of how to do this is inherent in each of us. It is part of the magnificent design of the human being. Excellent education is now available to stimulate and sustain this natural wisdom. Awakening to, trusting and acting upon our innate human connection is the joy of parenthood.

Prenatal movement is preparation for neonatal activity. It is also warm-up for the marathon of labor and delivery. It is designed to result in the baby’s thrilling victory of entry into the arms of a world already sensed and perceived.

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