Most healthcare establishments ignore the emotional side of birth differences. Babies who are born with any difference which requires medical intervention has experienced significant trauma. This trauma goes largely ignored and parents are often overwhelmed by their own experiences, having to arrange doctor’s visits and medical treatments that the baby’s experience is often forgotten. Being in the womb and the birth process can carry a lot of embodied information and experiences that the baby may want to share with others, but often time is not taken to properly ‘listen and hear’ what the baby is trying to say. This leaves the baby feeling unseen and alone with a tremendous emotional burden.
There are thousands of different birth differences which may require extra medical interventions. The Nested Womb philosophy is to help parents to understand the entire experience through the eyes of their baby and to support parents with a skillset which can lessen the traumatic effects of the congenital difference. A lot of this is psychosocial education on prenatal and perinatal psychology principles, which includes understanding the importance of touch, and the kinds of touch. Babies who are born Intersex, Hypospadias, Bladder Exstrophy/Epispadias, or other differences of the genitals are particularly vulnerable to having trauma similar to sexual trauma due to the location of the ‘difference.’ But all babies who are born different need to ‘feel’ in the family field that there is love and acceptance.
I work with your baby in a family setting to help release some of the emotional charge of the experiences, which could be the birth itself, the medical interventions, the ongoing treatments, surgeries, etc. I help you to develop a conscious communication with your baby so that any touch is or procedure is done with full respect and honouring your baby’s boundaries and agency. I also ‘train’ how you can interact with medical professionals who are less inclined to use conscious touch, and how you can negotiate appropriate boundaries. Additionally, you learn how to see your baby in a new way which helps foster a greater connection and bond between you. Having a baby with a birth difference can be stressful and overwhelming, especially without the proper support. During the sessions, we will also work with any emotionally charged material which will help ‘settle’ the family field and put you and your baby at ease.
I can be hired by healthcare organisations, non profit organisations, and others who work with vulnerable patients like this. If you are a medical practitioner, psychotherapist, or other holistic practitioner who works with these types of clients, you may also hire me for supervision and consultations.
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