Emotional Trauma in the Womb

Posted by Dr.Sam on July 4th, 2010

Baby

The caller complained, “I’ve been sad all my life. I’ve been to many therapists and none have been able to help me get rid of my sadness. Do you think you can help me?”

Since I have seen many similar cases like this before, I told the caller, “I have a good hunch on what is going on. Come on over and lets see if I can help.” After briefly treating the person, the sadness was gone and it has stayed that way ever since. I have treated hundreds of these situations where individuals have been able to experience release of seemingly hopeless issues. What has made the difference?

There is a growing body of research showing that babies in the womb feel, taste, learn, and have some level of consciousness. One study had babies in the womb receiving “vibroacoustic stimulation” (Gonzalez-Gonzalez et al., 2006). That is a fancy way of saying sound waves were transmitted. For comparison purposes, there was also a control group that did not receive the treatment. After they were born, the babies who had received the stimulation were again given the same treatment. The result was that these babies recognized the signal and tended to calm down after receiving the signal. The researchers concluded that fetal life is able to learn and memorize with this capacity lasting into neonatal life (post-birth).

In other research, Anthony DeCasper and William Fifer created a nipple that was connected to an audio device (Kolata, 1984). This nipple test was given to 10 newborn babies. If a child sucked in one way they would hear their mother’s voice. Sucking in a different pattern would cause the child to hear another woman’s voice. The researchers found that the babies sucked in a way to hear their mothers. The same experiment was done using the sound of the mother’s heart beat and that of a male voice. The result was that the babies sucked in such a way as to hear the mother’s heart beat more often than the male voice.

DeCasper later did another test where he had sixteen pregnant women read a children’s book. They read the book out aloud twice a day for the last 6.5 weeks of their pregnancy. Once born, the babies were given the nipple test previously mentioned where they could listen either to their mother reading the original children’s book that was used or another book. The babies sucked to hear the original children’s book. What DeCasper concluded was that a prenatal auditory experience can influence auditory preferences after birth.

An author and well known obstetrician, Christiane Northrup (2005) shares that if a pregnant mother is going through high levels of fear or anxiety she creates a “metabolic cascade.” Hormones known as cytokines are produced and the mother’s immune system is affected, including her child’s. Chronic anxiety in the mother can set the stage for a whole array of trauma based results such as prematurity, complications of birth, death, and miscarriage. The opposite is also true. When the mother is feeling healthy and happy, she produces oxytocin. This is often called the molecule of belonging. The presence of this component creates feelings of bonding and strengthens immunity in the baby. Neurotransmitters moving inside the mother’s body creates a chemical and physical imprint on the baby’s brain and body. The message imprinted is that there is safety and peace. The baby feels secure and taken care of.

Can a baby learn while in the womb? The research seems to point in that direction. In terms of mental health, can this be a clue to psychological issues adults exhibit? In some cases, I think so. I feel this way, not because I have done peer-reviewed research on the matter, but because of the hundreds that I have treated for their fetal life traumas. They experienced significant or total reduction of their negative and dysfunctional issues. Many of these patients had previously exhibited spontaneous and abrupt feelings of anger, fear, sadness, loneliness, hyper-vigilance and even co-dependent enablement.

The next time you experience one of these emotions and you cannot figure out where it came from perhaps it came before your physical birth. You may have had a detached mother or a scared one. You could have had a mother that did not want to get pregnant and resented the father. Maybe your mother was depressed and lonely. Hopefully, you had a happy and content mother who nurtured you in her heart and enjoyed having you in her life.

References

Gonzalez-Gonzalez, N. L., Suarez, M. N., Perez-Pinero, B., Armas, H., Domenech, E., & Bartha, J. L. (2006). Persistence of fetal memory into neonatal life. Acta Obstetricia et Gynecologica, 85, 1160-1164. doi:10.1080/00016340600855854

Kolata, Gina (1984). Studying learning in the womb. Science, 225, 302-303. doi:10.1126/science.6740312

Northrup, C. (2005). Mother-daughter wisdom. New York, NY: Bantam Books.

Article 8 Comments

Ana Sierra said,

July 30, 2010 @ 4:52 pm

What is your treatment approach in such cases? How do you determine this is the cause?

Cherie Crisp said,

July 31, 2010 @ 7:47 am

Dr.Sam:
Concerning Emotional Trauma in the Womb-
At age 12,had figured out why my gut feelings of not belonging or not being wanted..for years… or of being adopted came into my head…because,that’s when my mother let me know that she and my father had never expected to have kids, as he had been told by the army Dr that he couldn’t and she didn’t want them. She got pregnant with me the first month of marriage, and my father turned into a jealous maniac, thinking the milkman was visiting her while he was at work, etc etc.
Can imagine that really made my mother have some major hormones being released into the womb.

When I was born, and looked just like his sisters, blonde with blue eyes, even though both my parents had raven black hair and brown eyes, he stopped being quite so paranoid..but only after his mother told him of that resemblance.lol

Felt the different treatment by both parents, especially after my two brothers were born. I was no one’s favorite. My mother’s fav was the first brother,with black hair and blue eyes- and my father’s was the younger brother, as he got his black haired, brown eyed son.So, I learned to nurture myself with being out in nature,having pets, and found a heavenly Father who loved me just as I was.
Know I was dyslexic and A.D.D.

Was just diagnosed last yr, at age 62, with bipolar II PTSD, and Social Anxiety Disorder. However, figure these were also brought on by the very violent early home life witnessed, being kidnapped at age 15. Developed agoraphobia but didn’t know what it was called back then, in the early 60’s, but “treated” myself by gradually going outside until I could start attending high school again.It took one year to do.

Then,, later having a violent marriage, and then kids’ father kidnapping them. Then, while starting to live my life, while depressed over all that, was sexually attacked twice, within a 10 yr span..which made me lay off dating. Met a man through church, and married after two yrs, but that should’ve been annulled, as he was not at all what he appeared to be.That turned violent, as he returned to drugs and alcohol and tried to get me into sex orgies and drugs. I had to leave the state for my safety.

I became homeless,after not being able to find a job, as hoped.

Also began living in Salvation Army’s women’s center, and that’s when I began having a hallucination of the wrought iron fence being so hot that it had heat waves emanating from it..it was quite hectic living there…but found a place to go for psychiatric evaluation, besides Parkland Hospital, in Dallas, where I lived- and wound up at a wonderful place,LifeNet- that let me know they could help me with housing,and meds, and treatment- if I didn’t do drugs or alcohol. I never did drugs, but sometimes imbibed but didnt want to end up like my mother, who died from alcoholism at age 45.

Oh, also: Have reconnected with my four kids, now that they’re grown, we’ve met on facebook. Three out of the four have been diagnosed with bipolar.Only one takes meds.Two daughters claim their father molested them during the years they lived with him. I know Bipolar runs on their side of the family. My younger brother has been diagnosed with bipolar I. Fairly sure my kids’ father is a narcisstic personality/possibly even sociapathic or borderline ..he shows absolutely no remorse. His uncle passed away, and so he left his 2nd wife and married his aunt. ??? For a while my two daughters who were molested said how gross of him. but now they’ve “friended” him on facebook! I don’t know what to think.

Guess my hormones were busy drenching the womb back then,on all my pregnancies, because that marriage was frought with much anxiety.He was doing alcohol,drugs,and having affairs,with men and women. I stayed way too long.

So now, I’m on meds, in my own HUD apt, with mainly peaceful surroundings, and doing what’s required to keep all this going. Obviously need more counselling, huh? lol

Does any of this help you research-wise?

Cherie Crisp

Dr.Sam said,

July 31, 2010 @ 9:14 am

Cherie,

I must say that you certainly have had one “hell” of a life! Thank you for sharing your story. Most of us have different places where we see the light. For some it is sooner and for others, later. Some never see the light. It looks like you’ve been seeing light. I celebrate that with you. Each one of us are beggars. It is that some of us don’t realize it or won’t admit it. We are all looking for “bread.”

Again, thanks for sharing your story on my web site. I hope it can be of tremendous encouragement showing a person who has not given up.

God bless,

Dr. Sam

Dr.Sam said,

July 31, 2010 @ 9:15 am

Look for a response to your email.

Dr. Sam

Jessica Patterson said,

October 14, 2010 @ 11:13 am

Dr. Sam,

Needless to say, I am more than intrigued by your concept of fetal trauma leading to psychological issues that adults exhibit.

I am only in my senior year of my undergrad in psychology. I found you in the comments section on the PhD page at Capella University, and was curious about your studies and career. I am considering pursuing the same degree after I complete my MS in Mental Health.

I am seriously thinking of entering the field of cognitive neuroscience for the purpose of trying to determine whether events such as fetal trauma has effects on the human brain, and if those effects can lead to such mental illness as bi-polar disorder, and the like. I suppose stated in the form of a hypothesis, it would sound something like: Do the effects of fetal trauma on the human brain contribute to the onset of bi-polar disorder?

I would love to stay in contact with you (though my journey is only beginning, and I expect it to be a long one). I would love to bounce ideas off of you, and gain knowledge from your own extensive experience. . . if you don’t mind my picking your brain! ;-)

Jessica (Politte) Patterson

loraine84 said,

April 4, 2011 @ 1:37 am

My daughter, who is 12 years old, was adopted from China, at 10 months old.
As these years progressed, she has shown signs of Reactive Attachment Disorder, which is a condition that is apparently showing up more frequently in children who were adopted internationally, as they grow. She has been involved in a study by the psychology department at UCLA, though they will not release their findings. I think the common denominator in these adoptions is neglect and abuse.

When we adopted my daughter, straight from the orphanage, we found her malnourished, with a hideous diaper rash, a strong dislike of being touched or held, and a strange custom of flicking her fingers in the air, and being transfixed by the action. We later learned these were all signs of neglect from her caretakers at the orphanage, but no abuse we know about though her psychologist say we will never know. She was rarely held, even had her bottle propped up during feedings, and had no toys, no stimulation, hence, her fingers flicking in the air, a sign of desperately trying to stimulate her senses.

I knew, by the time we arrived back in the USA that she was different (I had 2 bio. children)… and it seemed all was well within a year…i forced her to be held and rocked, gave her massages, anything for stimulation…and she relaxed into it by about 4 months. But as the years went on she started to show strange behaivior, and it was before anyone talked or maybe even knew, about this Reactive Attachment Disorder. As other signs began to surface we started to see psychiatrists from the time she was 5, but no one had ever had a case like hers and didn’t really know what to do. I scoured the internet for any information about kids like her and discovered there were many adoptees who shared symptoms similar to my daughter.

Last year, 6th grade, she had sort of a break down, major panic attacks, especially at school. She would hide a cell phone in the bathroom and call home screaming to us to pick her up and take her home for various reasons, especially if it was windy. Horrible hours long attacks. Her older sister who she is very close to, moved here from LA to help her. Now my 12 yr. old daughter is on meds., meeting with a psychologist who has worked with kids like her, and is doing much better, especially in Jr. High, although she is still very closed off and will never talk about her feelings etc. I am still worried about her i don’t know if she can ever be really truly happy if she can’t learn to let go, or whatever you would call it. i’ve tried everything.

Now from Dr. Sam we learn that anxiety problems in the expectant mother can translate to the baby in their womb, and you can imagine the anxiety levels in a mother in China who knows she is going to have to give up this baby if it is her second one. My daughter was found in a basket on a street corner, with a note, 6 days after her birth. Luckily someone found her and took her to an orphanage. God, what to do? So much against her as well as many many adoptees from China.

Norma Henry said,

September 16, 2011 @ 7:58 pm

I am frustrated that this does not give any help… It would have been nice if a solution had been proposed…

Dr.Sam said,

September 16, 2011 @ 8:09 pm

The way I work is to find the original trauma memory. You might say that it is very difficult to access such memories. I use visualization and other techniques to have the person associate to a prenatal state. If there is a trauma in that state, it shows and then it is neutralized. The clients report significant relief from negative emotional states they have lived in all their lives. That is the best explanation without getting in lots of detail and complexity.

Dr. Sam

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