Title: Re: [ozmidwifery] FW: [birthnews] Social use of Ultrasound inPregnancy
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Jan, I had never heard the word before, but was
guessing it was not a geometry term which is what came to mind when I first read
it. It just remionded me of hexagon or heptagonal and so on and just didn't make
any sense, so I am pleased Aviva asked for clarification.
marilyn
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Sunday, November 17, 2002 5:24
PM
Subject: Re: [ozmidwifery] FW:
[birthnews] Social use of UltrasoundinPregnancy
On 17/11/02 3:18 PM, "Aviva Sheb'a" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
wrote:
thanks, Jan, I didn't know the
term haptonomic...exactly what does it mean? Never occurred to me women
wouldn't do that...surely they do? ...don't
they...er...
aviva
*********
Whatever happened to the old
haptonomic approach to getting to know the
baby?
Don't mothers
stroke, caress, talk, and play with their babies in utero
anymore?
Usually this is spontaneous behaviour but some mothers need to be
taught
the value of a daily quiet time with baby, especially those mothers
who
come home tired from working each evening.
The haptonomic approach is
surely much more fun (and dad can join in too)
than watching the poor
little mite turn it's ears away from the intruding
ultrasound wave ...
When you see the baby waving it's arms around it's
trying to block it's
ears!
Why have we become a society that is willing to subject it's
unborn to
distressing tests without a clinical
indicator?
Jan
Dear Aviva
I knew someone would ask this question when
I didn�t have the old notes on hand.
I was discussing the way mothers
touch their babies years ago with a Dutch midwife who told me that they had a
Haptonomic Society in Europe that encouraged parents to �get in touch� with
their babies in a meaningful way during pregnancy. All sorts of haptonomic
programs were available in Holland that established routine communication
sessions between mother/father and unborn baby she said.
Since she
told me about haptonomy I have always asked my clients how their babies are
responding to their touch signals each visit. It is quiet interesting to hear
the replies.
One woman told me that her baby always responded
with an elbow movement for more attention when she stopped stroking it�s back.
She also told me that the baby did it in exactly the same way as her husband
did when she stopped stroking his back in bed at night. Her husband would give
her a backwards dig with his elbow, indicating that he wanted more of the same
stroking and she was sure that her baby was doing it exactly the same
way.
I think there is a huge necesssity for midwives to initiate
stroking and caresssing sessions with unborn babies with parents who are not
the �touchy/feely� types .. Also for those who may have been abused or
neglected or not exprerienced loving touch themselves. Seeing their smiles
when the baby responds is worthwhile.
I�ve never gotten around to
finding out if there is a Haptonomic Society in Australia as I always just
seem to incorparate a little haptonomy into my routine prenatal care and work
with the parents as the need arises.
Cheers
Jan
PS
Just looked up my dictionary and it doesn�t say too
much. It does say that a haptometer is an instrument for measuring sensitivity
to touch. Anyone else got information on this subject?
Jan
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