Articles | Spiritual Birth

Articles May 24, 2011May 28, 2011 by Marianne Littlejohn

Protecting Mother and Baby during Second Stage of Labour

How does a midwife explain a slow labour or a long ‘second stage’? The fact that a woman may be fully dilated does not mean she is ready to expel her baby from the womb. Midwives and obstetricians make this mistake all the time, as if the woman were a mechanical engine that should fire it’s pistons at the turn of a key. Midwifery is both an art and a science and part of that art, in the present climate, seems to be to prevaricate in order to align ourselves with what obstetric theory advises we should be doing.

Spiritual Parenting

More than ever, we need a new spirituality which embraces all the practical aspects of our lives. As we struggle with disasters, both natural and man-made we are beginning to understand our impact and that we might well be on a path of self destruction. Unless we examine ourselves and the way we live and cease damaging the environment and each other, we may well not survive or flourish in our universe.

Articles Pregnancy and Birth Information March 3, 2011October 12, 2011 by Marianne Littlejohn

The Origins of Infant Mental Health

Lack of nourishment may retard fetal growth, it may also lead to an increase in the production of cortisol, a hormone produced in response to stress, which in prolonged concentrations may affect brain cell differentiation (3). Effects in the first three months of pregnancy may be harmful to the development of the brain, including memory centres and areas of emotional responsiveness, such as the hippocampus

Articles September 19, 2010July 22, 2016 by Marianne Littlejohn

How the Bowlby Attachment Theory applies to Early Childhood and Adult Therapy

Ainsworth (1974) commented that infants who have been responded to sensitively and held frequently and affectionately during the early months, cry less towards the end of the first year and are able to play happily and explore their environment…

Articles July 26, 2010August 4, 2010 by Marianne Littlejohn

How the Bowlby Attachment Theory applies to Pregnancy and Birth part 2

It is these kinds of actions that will help us as a society to prevent the loss and despair in the newborn, described by John Bowlby so eloquently, and enable a mother to provide the right kind of interaction and closeness for her baby’s emotional and neurological development. It is out of such actions that mutual co-operation and loving partnerships will grow for our children.

Articles July 25, 2010February 7, 2011 by Marianne Littlejohn

How the Bowlby Attachment Theory applies to Pregnancy and Birth – part 1

Evidence suggests that traumatic events and prolonged stress and/or separation during pregnancy, birth and the postpartum period may permanently affect a baby’s developing brain structures and patterns of behaviour.