...at the Origin of Internal Division

There is a risk that painful events that are impossible for the fragile newborn to handle, such as separation from the mother at birth and the abandonment feelings which ensue will instead be repressed. Later the adult will probably cut themselves off from these painful feelings and try to forget them, creating an interior division that may have harmful repercussions on their social behaviour. The adult who has not processed their emotions will in effect risk expressing this suffering through their behaviour. We may wish to consider the influence of this internal emotional fracture on the emergence of different relational problems. There may also be a correlation between the loss of natural instinct, difficulties in finding one’s way in life and a tendency to seek security in dogmatic belief, knowledge and education systems which dictate what is right and wrong, what is good and bad, what is healthy and harmful etc. Lack of body contact may also play a role in the weakening of the immune system (damaged self-esteem and absence of colostrum, the first immuno-boosting milk). If the mother-child separation occurs in conjunction with value systems that consider physical contact to be vulgar, this may favour the development of reserved personalities, incapable of expressing emotion or understanding human distress.

Medicalizing childbirth can equally hinder the mother-child imprinting phenomenon. We should particularly note that epidurals and Caesarean sections, often performed unnecessarily, may entail serious consequences. A Portuguese study reveals that women who have had caesarean sections need more attention to start breastfeeding than women who have given birth naturally (control group).(1) According to a French study at INSERM, mothers who have had caesarean births are more often reported psychosomatic symptoms during first year than control mothers.(2) The same team showed two years later that after a caesarean section, mothers tended to have fewer children and had more difficulty conceiving. Four years after delivery mothers in the caesarean group reported fatigue more frequently than control mothers. 9% mothers consulted a psychiatrist, none in the control group. Between the ages of one and four years caesarean born children had more hospital admissions.(3) Another study lead by Trowell, showed that at one month the mothers who had caesarean section had much less eye-to-eye contact with their baby. The mothers delivered by caesarean section had more doubts about their capacity to care for their babies, were more depressed with symptoms and felt their babies did not become a real person until later. They found adjusting to the birth of their first baby and parenthood more difficult than the control group of mothers.(4) It seems to be confirmed by the results of a study published in The Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry. They observed brain activities of mothers in response to their baby's crying. Mothers who had vaginal deliveries appeared to be more sensitive to their baby's crying than those who had given birth via caesarian section. The researchers were able to monitor this by examining the increased brain activity in the regions that are believed to regulate emotions, motivation and habitual behaviour.(5)

For centuries in western society we have separated babies from their mothers just after birth. By isolating the newborn in a separate room, we risk passing abandonment anxiety down the generations. Effectively many of these babies are likely to carry a deeply buried wound inside them once they reach adulthood. Such repression can be revealed in an inability to meet our children’s needs, when they are really needed. We are faced with the situation of the snake that bites its own tail, because we repeat the same pattern in each generation, unconsciously inflicting upon others what we ourselves have experienced, namely, separation.

(1) Rocha SM., Simpionato E., de Mello DF. "Mother-child bonding: comparative study of mothers after normal delivery and cesarean section." Departamento de Enfermagem Materno Infantil e Saúde Pública da EERP/USP, Revista brasileira de enfermagem, 56. 2 (March-April 2003) : 125-9.
(2) Garel M, Lelong N, Kaminski M. "Follow-up study of psychological consequences of caesarean childbirth." INSERM, Unité 149, Villejuif, France. Early Human Development, 16.2-3 (March 1988) : 271-82.
(3) Garel M, Lelong N, Marchand A, Kaminski M. "Psychosocial consequences of caesarean childbirth: a four-year follow-up study." INSERM Unité 149, Villejuif, France. Early Human Development, 21.2 (Febr 1990) : 105-14.
(4) Trowell, J., "Possible effects of emergency caesarian section on the mother-child relationship." Early human development 7.1 (Oct 1982) : 41-51.
(5) Swain JE, Tasgin E, Mayes LC, Feldman R, Constable RT, Leckman JF. "Maternal Brain Response to Own Baby Cry is Affected by Cesarean Section Delivery." The Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 49.10. (Oct 2008).

Bibliography at the end of the article.