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

by Robert Wilkinson

Research indicates that along with diet, our mom's levels of stress, toxins, anxiety, and depression when we're in the womb profoundly affect us and our siblings throughout our lives much more than we may suspect.

I last gave this to you 9 years ago, and it bears reprinting. In a fascinating NYT op-ed piece by Nicholas Kristoff written back then, 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 other evolved Beings 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 2019 Robert Wilkinson

Comments

[Peg]

Some posts just save my life some days. Thanks for this. I need to Buck Up. Very difficult with a Pisces Moon and a big orange round something in the White House.

[Robert]

Hi all - As you know, I blame no one for environmental factors. We cannot change the toxins in our environment, and most of us cannot simply move to a place where there are no toxins. Nor could our parents.

I also cannot blame anyone for genetic factors, since those pre-exist our parents. We can hardly blame anyone for the genetic issues of our forebears.

I believe we need to take responsibility for the choices we make along the way. That would include our parents, and all the choices that led them into unhealthy circumstances. Yes, there are unhealthy choices, and the point of being here on Earth is to learn to make healthy choices. That would seem evident, even to the least educated.

I believe everything in life is a chance to lead us to a more reasonable view of humanity, and our humanity. In that we find peace.

[Lady Shamla Rose]

Beloved Robert Wilkinson

The discussion is not about blame. It is about AWARENESS. Everyone wants Peace, Harmony, Joy. And yet our schools and universities still do not teach about the necessity of MEDITATION for Peace of Mind and Higher Awareness.

Master Omraam Mikhael Aivanhov has written a book called "Education Begins Before Birth" - which links in very well with your article. He writes that the role of Mother is the most important role for a human life. That the Mother's psychological health and well-being is paramount to the growing baby in her womb.

Our world needs so much enlightening before what the Master says can become an everyday reality for all.

But HOPE is a Flame that burns eternal...

In divine friendship
Lady Shamla Rose

[Robert]

Hi LSR - I understand it's not about blame. I was answering a troll who posted garbage (which I refuse to publish), and so figured I'd try to make it clear this isn't about blaming pregnant people for factors beyond their control. And yes, I believe if more pregnant moms meditated the kids would come out calmer and more centered.

[Lady Shamla Rose]

My Beloved Robert Wilkinson

I could feel that, Love? I thought I was adding to your effort...:)

In divine friendship
Lady Shamla Rose

P.S. Still, I am pleased to get a response from you - that rare thing...

[Robert]

Hi LSR - Of course you are adding to the community! Every single person who comes here, whether they comment or not, is part of our global community. Last I looked, we are from over 130 nations. That's a diverse group of truth seekers!

If I don't answer a comment, it's not b/c I didn't notice it. I have to read each comment to approve it before it is posted. That's b/c in the past some very nasty people have posted some very nasty things, and so I had to change the way comments are posted here.

Of course, though their ugliness doesn't get posted, it still lets me know they're reading the material, including the other comments like yours. So they don't get to publish insults but get to read our take on things.

One Love. Aum and blessings.

[Lady Shamla Rose]

My Beautiful Beloved Robert Wilkinson

Thank you again, Love?

Graciousness is a blessed trait, and quite rare...

I was only teasing you...probably because you never accepted my invitation to share my amazing miracles...

ONE LOVE, indeed!

And AUM and Blessings Dear Heart

In divine friendship
Lady Shamla Rose

[Bonnie Orgren]

Glad to see that you discussed this topic of life in the womb as it has not received due attention Robert Wilkinson. Many psychologists have found that some phobias and problems can be illumined by hypnosis or regression into the prenatal state. I've done it and found a source of "survivors guilt". There are many instances of twin conception where one dies very early in the gestation period. My twin died, I was the stronger and felt much guilt about the death. Often the one who dies appears later in life as one's child. This resonated with karma I'd assumed.
Thank you for your posts and your books, Blessings for you and yours and your endeavors, Bonnie