Life In the Womb Influences Important Life Choices and Challenges More Than We Thought

by Robert Wilkinson

Through research we find that along with diet, our mom's levels of stress, toxins, anxiety, and depression all profoundly affect us and our siblings throughout our lives much more than we may suspect.

In a fascinating NYT op-ed piece by Nicholas Kristoff, At Risk From the Womb we find that our uterine environment is as important as our genetics and our outer environment as we age.

From the article:

Researchers are finding indications that obesity, diabetes and mental illness among adults are all related in part to what happened in the womb decades earlier.

One of the first careful studies in this field found that birth weight (a proxy for nutrition in the womb) helped predict whether an adult would suffer from heart disease half a century later. Scrawny babies were much more likely to suffer heart problems in middle age....

Perhaps the most striking finding is that a stressful uterine environment may be a mechanism that allows poverty to replicate itself generation after generation. Pregnant women in low-income areas tend to be more exposed to anxiety, depression, chemicals and toxins from car exhaust to pesticides, and they’re more likely to drink or smoke and less likely to take vitamin supplements, eat healthy food and get meticulous pre-natal care.

The result is children who start life at a disadvantage — for kids facing stresses before birth appear to have lower educational attainment, lower incomes and worse health throughout their lives. If that’s true, then even early childhood education may be a bit late as a way to break the cycles of poverty....

One study in this field... looked at children who were born after the great flu pandemic of 1918. The pandemic lasted only about five months and infected about a third of pregnant women in America, so Mr. Almond compared those who had been exposed to it while inside their mothers with others born just before or after.

Ms. Paul quotes Mr. Almond as concluding, “People who were in utero during the pandemic did worse, on average, on just about every socioeconomic outcome recorded.” They were 15 percent less likely to graduate from high school, 15 percent more likely to be poor, and 20 percent more likely to have heart disease in old age.

Stress in mothers seems to have particularly strong effects on their offspring, perhaps through... a hormone released when a person is anxious.... children who were in utero during the Arab-Israeli Six-Day War of 1967 were more likely to have schizophrenia diagnosed as adults. And The (JAMA) reported that Chinese born during the terrible famine from 1959 to 1961 were twice as likely to develop schizophrenia as those born at other times.

As for obesity... British scientists who fed pregnant rats junk food: doughnuts, marshmallows, potato chips and chocolate chip muffins (found) The offspring of those rats... were more likely to choose junk food when it was offered and ended up 25 percent fatter than rats whose mothers were fed regular rodent chow.

This field of “fetal origins” is still in its infancy, but one implication is that we should be much more careful about exposing pregnant women to toxins, and much quicker to regulate chemicals that are now widely used even though they’ve never even been tested for safety. Professor Agin is particularly eloquent about the potential perils of lead, dioxins, PCBs, radiation and pesticides.

By all means, read the whole article to learn more about this major issue. We humans are far more influenced by toxins of all kinds than we suspect, and it seems that it begins before we take our first breath. That's also why it's important to keep our vehicles as toxin-free as possible, purifying what we can and boosting our health on all levels.

On the flip side, we do have examples of Beings who have transcended Earthly health and personality problems by surrendering to their Highest Self. Ammachi, Sai Baba and many others have demonstrated that they cannot be killed by viruses, poisons, or bullets. They are exceptional Beings, of course, but still worthy reminders that Spirit is everything and matter merely the form.

Regardless of material circumstances, whether in or out of the womb, we can transcend many limitations of form and become our Highest Self. That does not mean that we will never get sick or sad, since many Great Ones have contracted deadly diseases, and others know the deepest sorrows of the world more acutely than their followers or the mass of humanity. But though they experience pain, they do not suffer.

Breaking the link between pain and suffering is one of the reasons we're here. And by our choices in thought, feeling, and action, we either play to the negative elements in our environment, or transcend them to whatever degree we're able.

Our bodies replace all our cells every 7 years. By what we eat and drink, by our meditations and prayers, by our service to our Higher Self and humanity, we actively steer the process. These perpetuate or change our physical, emotional, and mental patterns, helping us know what is real and unreal, what is dark and what is light, and what leads us to death or immortality.

© Copyright 2010 Robert Wilkinson

Comments

[caliban]

It's just like my mom born in 1918, to defy the odds. Her words were, "ya gotta keep a goin." And she did. It is good to remember her. Words cannot express. I think I shall weep now.

[Sara]

Thank you for this fascinating article and uplifting commentary. It is wonderful to read your observations following that article quotation. Redemption is what it's all about. It's good to be human after all!

[victoria]

Thank you for the article.

[Sunshyne]

This article caused an old wound to flare up last night after reading it.

When my mother was pregnant with me, she lost a 2 year old daughter, to complications of pneumonia, back in 1966. I carried the sadness, grief for years. It was like I died before even breathing my first breath. I know deep down, I did not want to be born. I felt rejected and abandoned even before I was born. I believe it was the first and orignial Chironic wound for me.

I was also born practically blind. I lived in poverty, did not have access to help with getting precription glasses, or surgery. So, went without until the age of 17, when I left home, and struck out on my own. Though I could actually "see" close up, enough to read, and engrossed myself in books and reading. I did finish high school, and have gone to vocational schools to learn graphic design, and admin assistant work.

I have studied and researched very much on this topic of in utero wounding. So, the topic certainly hit the sore spot. Yet, it made me go over once again, what happend in the past. I grew up under a constant stressful enviornment. I was abused, neglected. I was not nurtured. I rasised myself the best I knew how to. Grew up in the inner city, but had also the country life at my grandparents farm in summers. All of my siblings are all pretty much dysfunctional. Or suffer from anxiety, depression, schizophrenia, bipoloar, lupus, and the list goes on. I have always felt like an outsider. I am the only one in my immediate family who has taken the steps on the wholeness, and healing path.

I was married for 20 years, in a destructive relationship. Pretty much the same thing as how I grew up. Very stressful, left to take care of everyone and everything.

The constant stress took its toll on my health. To the point I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia. (which i have also studied intensenly) Which is a chronic pain condition. I still have flare ups, but am able to now handle it much better. I am entering a trial like study soon. In a health and wellness program, that will cover nutritional counseling, psychological, physical therapy/exercise, stress management. I really hope that it will be of some help.

I also have a desire to go into homeopathy medicine. I have been looking into it. Medical astrology also interests me.

Thanks for the article Robert.

Sunshyne

[AceStar]

very good article brother
thanks alot :)

[caliban]

Oh Sunshyne, what you have to offer to fibromyalgia sufferers! So many just shut down and wallow. You are a beacon of light. Thank you for your gifts.

[ull]

Right on the spot! - my mother was in a very stressful, agressive state when she was pregnant with me. I got a psychosis as a teenager - diagnos schizophrenia ..
I know everything about problems with relations and economy.. And I am very aware that I still have "toxins" in me from my mother. I have chosen not to have children - trying my best to heal through shamanism, yoga and spiritual contacts.
Sunshyne - your story is also mine. I also felt unwanted, was abused, neglected, had problems with my eyes..Also the outsider - I think we are strong Hopes.

[caliban]

Mom kept me on my toes so my ears and eyes were wide open. I just couldn't believe what I was seeing and hearing. Another kind of stress. It scared the crap out of me. I tried to follow along, you know like give it a chance and all, but it just didn't line up for me. I loved her, but it wasn't easy. "Good. Bad. Good. Bad. GoodBadGoodBadGoodBad" . . . . Harry Nielsen.

[born free]

most interesting topic
having given birth to a baby
who has undergone tremendous in utero
stress and toxins
i have tried to balance this
KARMA my baby has chosen thru
reiki to him - in utero
+ meditation
he is healthy praise the forces that be
however when he is sick and hitting his issues i do see straight to the heart of his pain
his karma with me in this life time
thank you
all for this fabulous forum
born free

[Sunshyne]

Calihan, thank you for the lovely comment that I could be of help to others with Fibromyalgia. I think I need to go through this program I spoke of, to find a balance, before I can be of help to anyone else with this. There are many options and I have many skills in many areas. It is just choosing the area that is close to my heart and going with it. I actually work 40 hours a week in a grocery store. In accounting and customer service. I am of help, and healing to others around me in many ways, just being a common worker, in a common job. lol. I don't mind being common actually. I am still not sure on homepathic medicine either. Right now, just going with the flow, trying to find a balance with my health, work, and home/personal life. It feels like it is coming together.

You are correct on those with FM seem to wallow and give up easily. I did that also for a few years. Those with a diagnosis with this "syndrome" (What docs term it to be) are usually just totally drained. On all levels. Spiritual, mental, physical, emotional. Usually have led a very anxiety/depression filled life. With toxic people and have become toxic theirselves. Me.. I was very codependent. Thought I had overcome that with the ending of the 1st marriage. But,have come to realize I did the same with the 2nd marriage. The 2nd marriage, that I am in now.. The terms of the partnership/relationship changed since we first came together. With the healthy changes I have made. Becoming my own individual person. Forming my own opinions. Not being a victim any longer. Taking control of my life. Making my own choices. The relationship has grown apart. He wants the marriage to be same as it started out. We are on different pages. Different wavelengths. Then, he is much older than I am. I am 44 and he is 68 years old. (I think I tried to do the replacement father thing). Anyways.. I am to the point now, that I am going to strike out on my own. For the 1st time ever in my life. A little scary. Yet exciting at the same time.

Ull-
I have had three children (sons). I wasn't thinking at the time about dysfunction and carrying on the family genes when I conceived and gave birth. I was in the middle of the dysfunction myself. I do not in the least, regret their births. If I can overcome, and become what I am today, then anyone can do it. I believe what I have overcome is a reflection onto them also. I found out a few months ago, I will be a first time grandmother. The grandchild is due in February. My oldest son (a sag fire tiger) is in the Army at this time. He was deployed in Iraq last year. I always hoped that I would be the hands on and be around kind of grandmother. Don't look like it. He is leaving for Germany (Army base) in a few months. All my children have left the nest. To strike out and leave their mark on the world. :)

Ull, I think we could be in the same soul group. I find it cool that the weaknesses are turned into strengths. I love the spiritual vision. I have been practicing something new. Envisioning what kind of future, and healing in the "collective" I would like to see happen. Along with much emotion, good thoughts, meditation.. Perhaps good things will happen. Like a healing, transformation. Sometimes the future can look bleak.

Ull, did you have a mystical childhood? Did you also "feel" others like you out there? Was there no one to explain the spiritual happenings to you and be there for you? There wasn't for me. The dreams. The having one foot in the spiritual, one foot in the earth plane. It was something else. And no one else can understand, unless they walked in the same shoes. It is like we come from the ancient days, the ancient ways. Feels good to connect with another that is similair.

Sunshyne

[AngeLady]

Wow, what a great article! Your insight is always right on, Robert! Keep up the good work! I actually have alot of pain since a car accident in 2003, but you are absolutely correct- Transcend the pain, and there is no experience of suffering! It has also been 7 years, and I have treated myself with the utmost care for 7 years... NO pain meds, but natural healing methods.

[ull]

Yes - Sunshyne, I sure did have a "mystical" childhood and I have what people often call "gifts" - I see, hear, feel a lot..Sometimes I think this world is a comedy sometimes a tragedy..The suffering is evident though. Humans are like prisoners chained together.

[caliban]

Chains! Ouch! Oooo! Past life pictures. Confinement. No good. Break chains. Link up with creative force. Free in joint ventures.

Just had to cleanse.

Don't get me wrong, I think you are doing great work.

[Robert]

Hi all - Checking in briefly. Glad this non-Astrological article is well received, and that such a great comment thread developed. Finding our common humanity is what life's all about. In this we overcome the sense of separateness that creates human suffering.

[Christine]

This is interesting. I was abandoned at birth and later adopted. I have always wondered what was going on with my birth mother that caused those circumstances. I am sure there was a great deal of stress. I definitely think some of it was passed on.