We are used to consider the moment of birth to be the beginning of our life's journey. But didn’t man exist before the first breath? Grof's perinatal matrices are an attempt by modern scholars to outline a model of fetal existence. How does the course of pregnancy affect the fate of the unborn child?
Official medicine point of view
Throughout the existence of official science, great minds have insisted that until the moment of birth, a human embryo cannot be considered anything more than just an embryo. This approach is easily explained by a significant reduction in personal responsibility. Unprofessional activity can be covered up with the concept of medical error. Otherwise, for any unsuccessful outcome of pregnancy, including abortion, would have to be responsible, as for a murder.
In addition, if you admit that even before the person was born, he already has a mental perception of himself as a person, we will have to restructure not only the medical approach to pregnancy, but also the legal and legal framework. So timid attempts to talk about prenatal memory are drowned out by the insistent hum of dissent.
Perinatal Matrix Theory
This concept was first formulated in 1975 by an American psychiatrist of Czech origin, Stanislav Grof. Perinatal matrices, according to his teaching, are a model of a person’s mental development at the stage of intrauterine existence and until birth. In an attempt to understand what is happening to the child in the womb from a psychological point of view, a wide variety of studies have been conducted. The biographical method, when attempts were made to trace the relationship between the course of pregnancy and the further character of a person, was not the most original. Particularly brave researchers tried to plunge into a state similar to what a baby experiences during her own birth, by introducing a cocktail of chemical compounds, including adrenaline and LSD.
Scientists could not agree on the experience gained at the time a person was born. But it was possible to identify some general pattern. Obviously, the baby in the womb, expelling him from the familiar womb, experiences tremendous stress, similar to betrayal. In Grof’s perinatal matrices, four main processes are identified that influence the further development of the psyche. Each stage is characterized by its own distinctive features. The basic concepts are called by the scientist himself the basic perinatal matrices (BPM).
Symbiosis with mother
It was not possible to precisely establish the beginning of the first stage. Some researchers believe that the presence of a cerebral cortex is a prerequisite. Its formation begins in the second half of pregnancy, at about 22 weeks. However, scientists who allow memory at the cellular level believe that the process starts already at the time of conception.
Grof’s first perinatal matrix is responsible for the person’s energy balance : openness to the world, ability to adapt and perception of one’s self.
It has long been noticed that desired children, subject to a healthy pregnancy, develop better and make contact easier. BPM explain this by the fact that it is at this stage that the ability to accept love, enjoy life, and feel worthy of all the best is born.
The child lives in conditions close to ideal:
Protection from the dangers of the outside world.
Comfortable ambient temperature.
24-hour supply of nutrients.
Motion sickness amniotic fluid.
With a positive first stage, the subconscious forms a program according to which life is beautiful, and the child is desired and loved. Otherwise, a behavior model is launched based on a sense of uselessness. If there are thoughts of abortion, the fear of death will be embedded in the subconscious. Severe toxicosis creates a perception of oneself as a hindrance to others, causing a feeling of nausea.
Expulsion from Paradise
The beginning of the second stage approximately coincides with the first period of labor. During the fights, the mother and the child involuntarily inflict unbearable pain on each other. Colossal hormonal surges occur. The walls of the uterus press on the baby, which causes in him reciprocal sensitive shocks with the whole body. Pain stress is transmitted from the mother to the embryo and back, reinforcing each other's feelings of fear.
Grof’s second perinatal matrix is called “Victim” by him. At this stage, the infant feels pain, pressure and lack of output. Guilty feelings are laid: they do not expel the good and do not subject them to suffering. In this case, an internal force is formed: the ability to endure pain, perseverance, the desire to survive.
In the second matrix, two negative influences are possible: absence and excess. The first is formed by cesarean section. Severe pain stops suddenly, without any action on the part of the child. In the future, it is difficult for such people to finish what they have begun to the end. They are not able to persevere and fight for their interests. They constantly expect that now everything will be resolved by itself.
Excess pain during prolonged childbirth forms a habit of pressure from the outside. As an adult, a person subconsciously expects an impulse to begin decisive action. A predisposition to masochism is possible.
There is an assumption that the general craving for narcotic substances is caused by the prevalence of drug-induced labor stimulation. The subconscious mind writes down the program that it is the chemicals that help to escape from fear and pain.
It is noticed that people react differently to stressful situations. Some are resolutely looking for a way out, others seem to freeze in anticipation of the end. It is possible that the reasons for this behavior are in the initial choice that was made in the womb.
Fight for survival
The third matrix is formed at the time of birth. A man is forced to be born even if he wants to stay inside and do nothing. It is on how the delivery ended, further behavior in difficult life situations depends:
An active desire to get out of the grip is reflected in future decisions to take responsibility.
With cesarean section and rapid delivery, people do not gain experience in the struggle for personal interests.
A protracted course manifests itself in the subsequent struggle throughout life; if necessary, imaginary enemies and obstacles are created.
The third phase, according to Grof, is especially important. It is at this stage that most of the patterns of behavior in later life are laid. The scientist compares it with mythological labyrinths and a dense forest, which stand in the way of fairy-tale heroes. Overcoming the first difficulties will become the basis for the emergence of future courage and determination to fight for your happiness. If the child passed this test only with help from outside, in the future he will constantly wait for outside help.
Exemption
The fourth matrix is formed from the moment of the first breath and throughout the week after birth. It is unique in that it is created in a conscious state, therefore, it can be adjusted throughout life.
Birth pains ended, pressure stopped. The intake of oxygen brought relief from asphyxiation. It became easier than it was. But significantly worse compared to being in the mother’s womb.
It is on how the child spends the first hours and days after birth that the future perception of one's own abilities and freedom will depend.
With a negative course, the newborn is swaddled tightly, making it impossible to move, and left to look at the ceiling alone. The subconscious mind records a program that all efforts were in vain. Incredible suffering ended in a cold and a sense of uselessness. In the future, such people will grow up to be inactive pessimists. Their psyche decides in advance that all efforts are in vain, and there can be nothing good in the end.
Unfortunately, in recent decades, everything has been done in maternity hospitals to create precisely the traumatic matrix. Perhaps this is precisely the reason for alcoholism and the incredible scale of suicide attempts among the population.
Lifetime Award
With a positive version of the child, in the first minutes spread on the mother’s stomach and give a breast. Satisfying hunger and falling asleep to the beating of his own heart, the newborn understands: the labors are rewarded. Whatever happens, then everything will be fine.
The next days spent next to my mother will finally form a positive attitude towards life and a sense of my own need. Tactile pleasure, breast milk, peace and love are the main things that a person who has come into this world needs.
Of course, it happens that pregnancy and childbirth did not proceed as expected. It is possible that due to illness, the child was forced to box immediately after birth. In this case, enhanced care and increased attention are required. Especially during the first year of life.
But loving mothers themselves understand this. And they feel. Without any tables.