A SAFE PLACE ON EARTH IS MY BIRTHRIGHT

That a Safe Place on Earth is my Birthright seems so obvious and yet the collective fear created by the recent pandemic, increasing civil unrest worldwide as well as rapidly deteriorating environmental conditions are beginning to make our precious Earth not such a safe option to be born into.

Decreasing fertility rates in both men and women are attesting to high levels of cortisol in our bodies showing perhaps that collective levels of stress are signaling to future babies that we are now a species under threat of extinction. A rather alarming thought isn’t it particularly if you are wanting to have babies in the future?

As a pre and perinatal therapist, however, as well as a pregnancy and birth doula my job involves carefully assessing these considerations because I am already observing their impact on babies and adults. Research shows that our relationship to this earth, to our environment and to life in general is already being formed while in utero.

A few things that are shown to have an immediate impact on a developing fetus, for example, are:

- a woman’s psychology and embodied levels of fear

- her womb ecology and her daily relationship to nature

- her nutrition and food quality

- the quality of air that she breathes and surrounding environmental conditions

The first lockdown conception numbers are also showing a definite decrease in babies being born, forcing governments to consider future workforce capacities and other functional logistics. Technologically assisted conception and other advances in medical science are already looking to bypass natural birth with detrimental consequences for the shape and form of our future humanity in my opinion.

While the numbers speak for themselves and despite the fact that current affairs are having a much deeper impact than we generally take into consideration, I believe human beings are resilient and have incredible capacities to adapt to change in the face of adversity. Our freedom of choice alone is one of our human ‘superpowers’ with which we can create new paradigms of behavior here and now.

I know there are already many people around the world who are consciously coming together to create safe havens for future generations to be born, caring for and regenerating natural environments, as well as being on the way of establishing educational platforms that can provide young children with the skills and resources they need to face an uncertain future.

The practice of preparation is in my opinion a process of time which allows us to feel safer by feeling more in control while effectively being more present, flexible and responsive. For this reason, I prefer to prepare future parents ideally before they conceive or as soon after as possible. In fact if you are having sex we should already be talking! There are in my opinion many factors to consider and to integrate before conceiving a baby.

What can you already be doing?

- Prepare a healthy physical container, your body, for your baby

- Clarify your intention to potentially conceive

- Decide where and how you would like your baby to be born

- Take a look at your own birth story and integrate any residue stress in your body

- Address any behaviors you would like to change within yourself

If you would like to find out more about my Pregnancy and Birth Preparation Programmes online or in person please contact@aquagenesis.gr