Hello,

If you are on this page you have an interest in prenatal and perinatal psychology. My interest in this subject was ignited in 1995 when a psychologist told a group of seminar attendees that most of us were having difficulties because we were born in hospitals. I was driven to find out what she meant by this extraordinary declaration! I had been born in a hospital and I thought I was fine. Little did I know!

In 2001 I discovered a new school offering graduate degrees in Prenatal and Perinatal Psychology. I enrolled that year and graduated in 2006 with a PhD. Three years of coursework taught me a lot about this topic. My qualitative dissertation research was comprised of interviews with seven pregnant women who shared their childbirth expectations with me. During our second interview I learned whether or not their expectations had been met. Future blogs will cover this all in more detail but you can read the full dissertation on this website (Primiparas’ Expectation of Childbirth: The Impact of Consciousness).

A definition of prenatal and perinatal psychology:

Prenatal refers to the time before birth. Perinatal refers to the time around birth so it can include pregnancy, labor, the arrival of the baby into the world of light and breath, the postpartum period, and the first year of development. Psychology—the word—is a combination of two words: psyche which means soul, and –ology which means the study of. No one I know goes to a typical psychologist to discuss their Soul. What psychology has come to mean is the study of the mental, emotional, and behavioral aspects of our lives. It focuses on what we think, feel, and do.

What I intend to discuss in this blog and why:

I would like to change the paradigm in childbirth. A paradigm is the model or the accepted way in which society thinks about a particular subject. Webster’s New College Dictionary (2008) defines paradigm as “a set of assumptions concepts, values, and practices that constitutes a way of viewing reality for the community that shares them” (p. 815). Today, the paradigm of childbirth is a medical model. Ninety-eight percent of pregnant women in the United States give birth in hospitals. That is the reality we have collectively agreed to. Most of these birthing moms are attended by medical doctors. The statistics involved will be the topic of another blog.

I’ll be talking about the childbirth language we use. Much of the language we use to talk about birth is unconsciously imbedded with words that support and endorse the existing paradigm.

We need to become conscious of the message we are delivering – that is an appropriate use of the word “delivering.”

The point I want to make here is that I will be blogging on this site periodically. My commitment is to post every two weeks. Since I have reached threescore and ten (and more), I am not as comfortable with computer technology as I’d like. I do, however, like to write, and I feel passionate about mommies, babies, daddies, and what we can do to shift the existing childbirth paradigm so babies are welcomed in a much gentler way. This involves conscious conception, conscious pregnancy, and conscious birth.

Start to join this effort by watching the childbirth language you use. Stop using the word “delivery.” We deliver pizza. Babies are born—mothers give birth “Birth” is a perfecting good verb!