Page    1   2   3   of this article. From the book - Man in the Trap , E. F. Baker Babies No one can adequately understand the energic concept of functioning unless he has worked with and carefully observed babies, for it is here that movement both unitary and interrupted is most clearly seen. It never ceases to be a cause of both wonder and amazement how nature in nine months can produce from one sperm and one ovum such a complex but beautifully functioning organism as the human baby. When allowed to develop in the uterus of a relaxed and loving mother and born naturally, it becomes immediately an independent and efficient functioning unit. Its breathing commences immediately, and immediately it is able to observe and contact the world. I assisted with a natural home delivery and the father, a medical orgonomist friend, and myself observed carefully the newborn baby girl. Within a few minutes after birth she looked up at one of us and then the other and followed us with her eyes as we deliberately walked about, turning her head to keep us in view. Her eyes were open and clear. We wondered what impression she had at her first look at the world. At this time, she was allowed to lie on her mother's abdomen, both receiving warmth and enhancing the contractions of the mother's uterus through the contact. Within the hour, she nursed vigorously and, from her expression, with full pleasure. Her whole organism responded to every move, for there with her mother she could expand and be unafraid. It is inconceivable that doctors, nurses, even mothers and fathers, can still accept the concept of separating mother and child at birth. Many mothers do, of course, object, and then they are met with the inflexible rules of hospitals concerned only with efficiency, convenience, and old erroneous medical ideas which have become dogma, never with the emotional needs of the child. This arbitrary attitude is at times carried to the point of absurdity. An acquaintance of mine consulted me about a situation that worried him. His six-year-old daughter had to have a small subcutaneous cyst removed from her arm. The surgeon refused to operate in his office under local anesthesia, and said that it must be done in the hospital under sodium pentathol. The hospital insisted the girl must remain in the hospital over-night for observation prior to the operation. Her mother could not remain with her. This little girl had never slept away from home and the father was worried that all the elaborate preparation would be more frightening than the operation. In my earlier years, I did many minor operations under local anesthesia on small children and found them excellent little patients when everything is explained properly and truthfully to them. So, I agreed wholeheartedly with my acquaintance and told him to try to persuade the surgeon to operate in his office; failing this, to insist on taking the girl to the hospital the morning of the operation. Too many parents and even doctors, hoping to calm children, minimize everything, only to have the child find he has been deceived. This makes him mistrust all adults. I have found that the average child can accept as much as the adult, sometimes more, if he is made aware of exactly what he is up against. However, in this case, the surgeon refused an office treatment, so the man tried to arrange to take his daughter to the hospital in the morning. And here the surgeon added his persuasion too. To no avail. The little girl was taken to the hospital in the evening, left alone in a strange and forbidding place awaiting an unknown ordeal. She lay awake most of the night sobbing, faced her operation tired, frightened, and heartbroken. Several months later, she was still afraid to be left alone or to have her parents go out. She keeps going over the details of her experience until she comes to the point, "Now is it time I came home from the hospital?" But, when they are not restricted in such incredible fashion, babies develop very rapidly in accomplishing movements and control. 1 Breathing in the unblocked baby affects the whole organism. The impulse can be seen going into the pelvis and ending with a soft tilting forward of that segment. The skin is warm and pink, the body a soft and plastic energy system which, out of its own resources, will make contact with its environment and begin to shape it according to its needs. The eyes are open, frank, and serious. The mouth is a remarkable and well-developed, functioning organ. One is amazed at the strength and vigor of suckling; if one allows the infant to suck on a finger one finds a strong and rhythmic reflex which soon starts streamings in the finger, which gradually extend up the arm. It is easy to understand the effect on the mother's nipple; nursing sends energy streaming through the body to the pelvis. With the mother responding to her infant, a deep feeling of love is felt with genital sensations. Where these sensations are interpreted as incestuous, the mother withdraws anxiously and loses contact with her child. At the end of nursing one frequently observes a quivering of the lips in the infant. These quiverings spread to the face, finally ending in trembling and soft convulsive movements of the head and throat, sometimes of the whole body. The eyes turn up under the upper lids and the baby gives himself over completely to this pleasurable surrender (the oral orgasm). Where the mother develops anxiety and loses contact, the in-fant too contracts and his downward path to misery begins. He first contracts in the diaphragm and chest, both reducing sensation and separating the upper and lower parts of his body. This is easily observed in his breathing, but other signs and symptoms soon present themselves. His feet and buttocks become cold and blue, or pale; his eyes lose their sparkle, his face that open and contented look. His back becomes arched and his whole body may be rigid. He becomes restless, irritable, and his cry instead of communicating a confident demand takes on a whimpering pleading. Eating becomes upset, so do bowel functioning and sleeping habits, and he loses weight and may develop temperature, colds, or other illness. The mother, alarmed and unable to understand what has happened and unable to correct the problem, becomes more and more anxious. Finally she resents the husband, who was responsible for the baby in the first place, and we have a chaotic situation which is a vicious circle. It is usually at this stage that the medical orgonomist is consulted.   Examination of Babies History For history, the therapist must know five things; First, the complaints that tell why the baby was brought to a doctor. Secondly, the general circumstances of pregnancy and delivery, including any difficulties there may have been, and whether or not the baby was wanted. Then he must know the circumstances at birth - what medication was used, whether there were difficulties in getting the baby to breathe or nurse. Fourth, he must find out something about the baby's behavior since birth, in nursing, sleeping, bowel movements, creeping 2 and so forth. He must find out if the cry is full or whining, if he is generally content or cross, if he is too thin or too fat, whether he can cuddle. Inability to cuddle is serious and indicates an autistic baby. Finally, the therapist must know if a male child has been circumcised. The fifth point of the history concerns the mother's attitude. The therapist must know what her feelings have been toward her child since birth, if the situation is chaotic, and whether the mother had developed genital anxiety.   Examination The following six points cover the general questions the therapist must ask himself as he examines the baby. 1. General appearance: Is the baby crying, happy, or struggling? Does he cuddle to his mother and how does the mother handle him? Does the baby appear frightened, angry, or sad? 2. Eyes: Are the eyes open, frank, serious, friendly, and able to flirt, or are they suspicious, sad, frightened, and kept partially closed? 3. Skin: Is it warm and pink or cold and blue, especially about the legs and buttocks? 4. Position: Is the back arched with the pelvis held or can the baby give forward? If one holds up hands and feet, does the baby still hold rigidly or does he give anteriorly? 5. Throat and jaw: Are the throat and jaw open or held? This is determined most easily by fullness of cry. When the baby's mouth is held open and he cries, does he get angry and really assert himself? 6. Pelvis: Is the pelvis movable or held? This is easily determined by raising both feet. Blocks are very easy to release in babies. They are very fragile, though, and must be worked with tenderly. Even if he hurts the baby in the process, the therapist will be rewarded with a smile of appreciation and friendship when he is successful.   Convulsive Seizures in a Baby The following case history is one of the clearest illustrations of the possibilities of this therapy. The patient was a well-developed, handsome boy, of seventeen months. His parents stated that, since the age of three months, he had experienced periods of blanking out which the pediatrician diagnosed as petit mal. (See the discussion of epilepsy, p. 147) When he was nine months old, these blanking-out periods changed into grand mal seizures occurring several times a month. The seizures had persisted until the time I saw him. When he was brought to me, he had been on medication (Phenobarbital and Dilantin) for five weeks, but was still having an occasional seizure. Each attack started as a temper tantrum during which he would hold his breath, turn blue, and end by going into a convulsive seizure. Except for these attacks, he had been an exceptionally good baby. He almost never cried or got angry, was quiet and well behaved, and showed evidence of high intelligence - all this in spite of the fact that he could only say two or three words, and those very indistinctly. At ten and a half months he started to walk and would lead his parents toward what he wanted and indicate what he wanted them to do about it. The father reported that the baby behaved better with him than with his mother; the temper tantrums occurred when he was with his mother. After the convulsions began he was studied by several physicians and was finally hospitalized in a large neuropsychiatric institute for complete study. The general physical examination gave normal results. Blood examinations, including blood calcium and phosphorus estimations, were also normal. One specialist thought there was a beginning atrophy of the retina in the left eye, but two others said the fundi were both normal. Electro-encephalograms showed abnormal brain waves; therefore epilepsy and early brain tumor were suspected. Repeat examinations were recommended when he reached eighteen months. The interim diagnosis was "instability of the cortex." He was placed on a regimen of Phenobarbital and Dilantin with the statement that after four or five years medication might be discontinued with a hope that the convulsions would not return.    next page Page    1   2   3   of this article.   1.  Obstetricians frequently advise placing newborn babies on their stomachs when they are lying down. The rationalization is that if the baby should vomit or regurgitate his milk he will not drown himself by inhaling the fluid into the lungs. As a matter of fact, especially weak and sick babies are more apt to regurgitate and drown themselves in this position unless properly burped. Besides this position does force the baby to retract his pelvis and arch his back assuming a holding back attitude. Vigorous babies overcome this hindrance by drawing their knees up under them. Babies should be allowed to lie on their backs or on their sides; these positions are more natural and allow greater movement. Of perhaps even greater importance is that these positions allow more freedom in looking and following moving objects which aid in development of the eyes.   back to text 2.  Robert J. Dornan, et al, The Doman Delacato Institute for the Achievement of Human Potential, Philadelphia. These researchers have shown the importance of crawling. creeping, walking, and other movements for the adequate development of coordination and integration. Even reading disabilities improved when the individuals were put through the process of crawling and creeping which they had not done during their development. The side to side movements of the head during crawling and creeping seem to be very important for the development of the eye segment.  back to text