Page    1   2   of this article. Man in the Trap Prenatal and Natal Care Wilhem Reich, M.D. Anyone who deals seriously with the problem of emotional disease, either in its cure or in its prevention, must be prepared for bitter attacks from those who represent society, because he must meet and handle the sexual problem. Broadly speaking, men can be divided into two categories: those who make social mores, and those who are crushed by them. The former, of course, have also been made sick by society, but in defending their own sexual anxiety must crush everything that excites natural feelings within them. These are the emotional plague characters discussed above. Those in the second category are made to abide by the rules of the former, but have never incorporated them into their structures. They are the simple neurotics and those few who have maintained health. It is always easier to rear a repressed child than a healthy one who asserts his independence and demands his rights. Everyone is familiar with the way Freud was plagued and ostracized. Probably few are aware that Brill, who brought psychoanalysis to America, was threatened with jail and the loss of his license by a group of narrow-minded physicians. I personally heard a well-known neurologist say at a meeting, "Dr. Brill, keep your filthy hands off our children." The attacks on Margaret Sanger are history. Reich experienced similar violent attacks. Natural sexuality is the great "do not touch it." But if there is to be an end to the misery of the world, natural sexuality has to be faced and accepted, especially for children and adolescents. To treat the neuroses is not enough. It is an endless and slow process for which there could never be enough therapists. Prevention can be the only successful solution, and prevention entails the acceptance of natural genital functioning.   Preparation for Delivery Toward such prevention, about fifteen years ago, at the suggestion of Reich I started a project for pregnant mothers, preparing them for delivery and the care of the infant and, where possible, continuing to see the child at intervals through the years. I wished to see what could be done to bring up children in as natural a way as we knew. And to see how well they could meet life. In preparing the mother for delivery, the object was to increase her ability to accept delivery and the baby, not to effect a cure of her neurosis. Preparation included sex-economic counseling, routine hygienic measures, removal of common practices which are known to harm the growth of the embryo, such as the use of tight girdles, lack of orgastic release during pregnancy, and so forth. Careful periodic examination of the bioenergetic behavior of the organism in general and the pelvis in particular was also made. Particular attention was paid to the eyes, to prevent going away and development of possible psychotic tendencies during delivery. Correct breathing and expression of emotions (screaming, crying, or rage) were also established. The pelvis was mobilized to allow a relaxed uterus for growth of the fetus and to facilitate delivery. The patient was encouraged to let out her emotions freely during delivery in order to avoid holding. Where possible, it was considered desirable to be present at the delivery to aid the patient in case difficulties should arise.   Delivery Labor naturally should proceed smoothly with strong but not severely painful contractions. This is because the uterus contracting down on the fetus does not meet an immobility, but rather the fetus pushes on the cervix and finds that it gives with the pressure and each contraction advances the progress of delivery. Pain occurs only when the uterus contracts down on a fetus that cannot give with the contractions because of lower holding. In many primitive peoples labor is said to be very short in duration and taken rather nonchalantly. Similar cases can occur in our society. When I was eighteen and teaching school far in the country, I was awakened in the middle of a cold February night by the husband of the family with whom I lived. He said his wife was in labor and asked me to ride horseback two miles to a phone to call the doctor. Before I arrived there, the husband caught up with me to say it was all over and not to bother with the doctor. The next morning the mother was up and cooked my breakfast as usual. I was present as a medical orgonomist at a natural home delivery of this kind. The mother, a former patient of mine, was well prepared. My duty was to see that the mother did not suffer any acute contraction that would interfere with delivery and that she maintained contact in the eyes. Very frankly I had nothing to do except occasionally remind the mother not to hold her breath when she became too interested in what was happening and forgot to breathe. I did have a pleasant conversation with her, which may in itself have assisted the process by helping to prevent the development of any anxiety. It is true that in both cases it was not a first child, but labor generally should be of this order. It can be expected to last somewhat longer in primiparas but the process should otherwise not be much different. Difficulties arise in such cases only when the pelvic opening is unusually small or where the fetus shows an abnormal presentation. These are factors which should be known and prepared for prior to the onset of labor. When the cervix is fully dilated and labor enters the second stage, unarmored mothers have reported feeling a sense of exhilaration and power with no further discomfort. This sense of exhilaration and well-being may last for several hours. It is sometimes accompanied by a feeling of floating and mild ecstasy. Real problems arise when the mother approaches delivery with a great deal of anxiety. She may have experienced considerable discomfort during her pregnancy, such as persistent vomiting, backaches, urinary frequency, constipation, and a myriad other complaints, until she has resented the whole thing and even her husband for his part in it. Perhaps she has heard stories of the suffering of labor and the dangers to her own life. She has heard it spoken of as travail, an ominous-sounding word. She has even worried that she might give birth to a malformed or idiot child. She has known nothing of the joy of expecting a new birth, her very own child. She has perhaps not done too badly with the initial pains of labor until she finds herself in the hospital.  1  There, in an unfamiliar environment, a bare room next to the delivery room, she hears the groans and screams of other women. The nurses are businesslike and unsympathetic, too busy to bother with her fears, and her doctor is not there to offer her reassurance. In fact she is told they cannot possibly call him yet. She may see doctors coming from the delivery room in gowns covered with blood, sometimes hears rumors of a labor-room tragedy to mother or child. Understandably, she becomes panicked and her whole organism clamps down severely. With this her pains increase to the point that she must cry out in spite of herself. Nurses admonish hr to be brave and stand it and she feels ashamed and contracts more. She tightens her jaw, pulls up her shoulders, clenches her fists and holds her breath. She presses her legs together, pulls back her pelvis and contracts the pelvic floor. Pains continue to increase because the uterus is contracting against an immovable object and little progress is made toward expelling the baby, which is held high in the uterus and cannot descend. This state can go on for two and even three days until, utterly discouraged and exhausted, she feels she cannot stand another moment. Everything terrible that she had heard about delivery was true and more. In the meantime the fetus is being squeezed unmercifully and its heart rate may go up alarmingly. The nurses who are watching the fetal heart rate become worried and anxious, which only adds to the mother’s distress. Eventually narcotics are administered to give the tired and distraught mother some rest. This only adds to the baby’s precarious state. When she awakens the mother is given drugs again to resume the contractions and the whole picture is repeated. At last the cervix is fully dilated and delivery either occurs spontaneously or by the use of forceps or manual rotation. The mother is of course given an anesthetic to relax the muscles, but tears or the cervix and perineum are certain to occur. Even more important the baby too is anesthetized and enters the world pale, half dead, or half asphyxiated from drugs, anesthesia, a tight cord around the neck, or from contractions of the mother that have cut off circulation in the cord. What an event for the mother, when she should feel joy in the new baby and the baby should be able to respond to her. All this matters not to armored man. The baby is given oxygen or artificial respiration, mucus is sucked out of his windpipe, and then he is hurried off to the nursery with businesslike efficiency. There is no understanding warmth, no emotional contact, all is done with mechanical routine. The mother, sick from anesthesia and exhausted, is rushed off to a room to recover from her experience and sob in her loneliness. She receives no evidence of empathy from her environment after the greatest emotional experience of her life. Because of all this the mother may not produce milk in her breasts for a day or two, sometimes not at all. The baby is too drugged and half-asphyxiated to nurse for twelve, twenty-four, or even forty-eight hours. This is so common that it is now taken for granted and no one will believe that a really alive baby will nurse within an hour or two after birth and the mother will have the milk. What can a medical orgonomist do in cases like this? He understands her emotional state and her contraction. This understanding can very quickly be conveyed to the mother, giving her reassurance. He first explains the situation that is preventing the progress of labor and that this is simply a result of her anxiety, her terror. He next explains what both must do about it to relieve the chaos into which she has fallen. This may accomplish a great deal in itself. At least the orgonomist hopes to obtain the mother’s cooperation. Now he sets about relieving the contraction and holding back. Of first importance is the tight jaw. She is encouraged to let her jaw drop as in sleep and to breathe through her mouth. If she cannot do this herself the mouth must be manually opened. This eliminates some ability to hold and establishes a better respiration. Her shoulders are then loosened and pushed downward and the chest mobilized by pressing on the sternum or sides of the chest during expiration. She is encouraged to scream or shout, especially with the pains, and otherwise to sigh out loud. Sometimes she will give in and sob if one holds her hand and says something comforting like, "don’t hold back, it’s all right." This produces relaxation. She is further encouraged to loosen her legs and bring her pelvis forward to "go with" the pain instead of bracing against it. This is easier if the mother is on her side, and in fact delivery is best accomplished in this position, although it is seldom used. Contractions of the uterus will increase, but the pain will diminish and she may feel drowsy or even become interested in the process of labor instead of fighting it. During this time her eyes must be made to regain contact. One must be very insistent about this and it is often quite difficult to bring the woman back to awareness. With relaxation of the mother the precarious situation of the baby improves and its pulse will slow down and even return to normal.  2     next page   Page    1   2   of this article.   Footnotes 1. The following is not typical of the better hospitals today, but it does represent all too many.  back to text 2. This is part of an article entitled, "Orgone Treatment During Labor," reprinted from Orgone Energy Bulletin, April, 1951, with permission.  back to text