The news has been so disturbing of late. Children are being separated from their mothers! Psychologically this does so much damage, but those making the decisions don’t seem to care. Why not? The key word is separation.
Those in charge of this monstrous act were very likely separated from their own mothers at birth. As a prenatal and perinatal psychologist, I can speculate. The norm for the generation of old men who are making the decision to separate mothers from their children was for newborns to be taken immediately from mothers as soon as they were born. This generation of babies, now aged adults, were routinely drugged along with their birthing mothers, and then separated from moms, placed in plastic carts, and taken to a nursery. The babies were fed only every four hours, often tranquilized with sugar water, given formula (Carnation milk and Karo syrup), and not breastfed. This was standard operating procedure for years.
The drug most used in those days was called “Twilight Sleep,” a nasty combination of meds. First laboring women were given medication to relax them, something like Demerol; this was followed by the administration of Scopolamine which does not kill pain but is an amnesiac that made women forget the pain they did experience, and finally, women breathed in either Ether or Morphine through a mask placed over their noses and mouths. Of course, the baby was also rendered helpless as the meds crossed the placental barrier. Without being able to move, neither baby nor mother could birth naturally. With no contractions, forceps were frequently used. These look like large salad tongs which grab the babies head and pull it through the birth canal.
The babies were “cleaned up” and taken to a nursery. The father below is standing amid all the swaddled babies put in this nursery.
Newborn were often kept in nurseries for over a week. So what happens inside the baby—FEAR! Babies belong with their mothers, in fact, on mother’s body is best. Separated they begin to form notions (given words much later in development) like “I’m hungry, but no one is feeding me.” Babies need to be fed every 20 minutes to two hours. With no sense of time, they can feel like they are starving to death. They feel like the world is not safe, that they can trust no one, and no one loves them. After all, if they were loved they would not be in this physical, emotional, and mental pain. This is what shows up as counselors and psychologists provide therapy years later.
Inside the brain, developing at a rapid rate, the prefrontal cortex in these babies is compromised. This area is the executive center of the brain and fully developed creates the capacity to feel empathy for others, to be compassionate and caring. Impeded development reduces or eliminates these capacities.
It is unconscionable to separate mothers from their children. At any age, the kids will feel rejected and abandoned. They will require therapy to recover if that is even possible after long absences and misunderstood separations. Without the ability to feel empathy or compassion, this generation of children could act out in anger.
Those in charge these days simply don’t care. A notorious jacket was emblazoned with this phrase: “I really don’t care. Do you?” Yes, I do. And if you are reading this, I bet you do too.
