Our entry into life and what happens in the birth process and the early days of life has the potential to shape our nervous system and our emotional patterns, as our birth is the lens that we see and experience the world through…even as adults.
When we are in utero, and up to the age of 18 months, our limbic system is highly sensitive to the environment and world around us, and these experiences are stored as body memories that stay with us throughout our lifetime and become our somatic-emotional reactions to things in life.
How we experienced our birth can impact us our entire adult lives. Even as adults, we can be unconsciously re-creating patterns in our lives that are an expression of our limbic imprint. Our birth strains are most apparent when we are under pressure, during transitions or in our relationships with other people.
As a paediatric Osteopath and having worked with so many babies and their mothers (and fathers – yes they are also impacted by the birthing process and trauma that can be associated), regardless of the \’story\’ of the entry into the world, there are some key factors that play a huge role in the impact on the nervous system of a newborn baby:
- the mother\’s stress levels in pregnancy and labour
- interventions in the birth process
- the duration of labour
- the first cry (or lack of)
- the level of support received during and after the birth
Understanding our own birth pattern and developing an awareness of how that has impacted us into adulthood but also bringing that awareness to how our children\’s birth strains can go on to impact them into adulthood is such a fundamental key for understanding their emotional and mental wellbeing for life. This also provides great insight into what a young babies needs are to help them with emotional regulation and the level of comfort and soothing they may need to feel safe, secure and loved. This intuitive knowledge and trust of our own nervous systems ability to regulate in times of stress (and even distress) can be affected when we feel triggered. This is where the inner child work and the deeper understanding of our own birth patterns really begins as it forms the basis of our understanding of why we parent the way we do.
Understanding the importance of healing your own inner child and the impact of your conditioning and triggers on your ability to regulate your own nervous system so that you can help your children regulate their emotions and nervous system is a key part of building and developing your connection with your child or children.
This is why our Paediatric Osteopaths take such a detailed history at the first consultation, to help establish a deep awareness and understanding of the family dynamic and any potential issues that may have impacted the mother’s nervous system before, during and after the baby’s birth and any other factors that may be contributing to baby’s nervous system and its ability to regulate, not just at birth but all the way through childhood and beyond.
By  Jelena Blajer 
