Good Article...

First impressions: How babies are treated in the beginning could shape the way they see the world Carolyn Skelton, CanWest News Service Saturday, February 25, 2006 VICTORIA - Until six years ago, Debby Takikawa was a counsellor in California who ran a family therapy clinic where she helped moms and dads form healthy bonds with their brand-new babies. Then she decided to make a 20-minute film for her clients. She started with the question: "What does it mean to a person to be 'met' at the beginning of their life?" and called on her favourite teachers -- Joseph Chilton Pearce and David Chamberlain -- for answers. Soon, she says, the film had taken on a life of its own. With help from established film editor David Tarleton, the short film turned into a full-length documentary, and Takikawa closed her counselling practice to take up filmmaking as a career. The result, What Babies Want, makes its Canadian premiere in Vancouver today. The film was funded by Takikawa's non-profit organization, Beginnings Inc., which meant raising money was sometimes a challenge. "We did everything from fundraising luncheons to yard sales, and then just a lot of the usual going to all my friends and relations and begging," says Takikawa. It was at one of these fundraising galas that Takikawa met ER star Noah Wyle and his wife Tracy. After seeing raw footage, Wyle agreed to narrate the film and record his own thoughts on being a dad, giving the project a boost. The film, which has since garnered both a Special Recognition Award at the Boston International Film Festival and a mention on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, looks at infant consciousness from the prenatal period to childbirth and the first months of life. Takikawa says a baby's earliest experiences -- the ones many parents think they won't remember -- are imprinted on the deepest structures of their young brains. "Babies are conscious and they're awake and aware and profoundly affected by their environment and what we do with them, right from the very beginning of life." Early brain development, she says, can affect what kind of person the child becomes. "If the baby's environment feels safe to them, they will make a brain that can go for intelligence, and can go for _expression," she says. "If they're in an environment that feels not so safe for them, they're going to tend more toward developing a brain that is a defensive brain." That "defensive brain," she says, could be linked to learning disorders, inability to pay attention or even more serious health problems. "Our tendency is to see the problem as originating in the child," she says. "It is actually much more likely that the child's behaviour is a reflection of the adult world and of adult values." Takikawa says experiences in the first few months of life, and even in utero, teach a baby how to feel about the world. "What we are teaching our little ones when they are born is how to make contact, how to be in relationships," she says. "If babies are picked up when they cry and fed when they're hungry, she says, they start off believing the world is a reasonable place. And what would happen if all babies were welcomed into the world? According to those interviewed in What Babies Want, it could mean a happier, less violent place. Not surprisingly, Takikawa says, the film often provokes panic among parents who worry they've psychologically scarred their children -- by not picking them up when they cry, for example. But she says the film is meant to be hopeful, not judgmental. After all, she says, parents face a barrage of conflicting information that makes for tough choices, and even if they make mistakes, it's never too late to mend relationships. Takikawa is already at work on two similar projects -- a book that spins off the documentary, and a film that looks at prenatal life. Victoria Times Colonist BABY DOS AND DON'TS DO: - Respect, love and honour your infant as you would a dear friend. Recognize and acknowledge your infant as a whole being from the start. - Meet your infant's needs as much as possible. Your child will learn to trust you and, by extension, himself. - Talk to your baby and small children. For example, if you are going to change a diaper, let the baby know what's about to happen before you do it. - Notice the pace that is most comfortable for your infant, and do things at their pace as much as possible. - Watch and observe your infant and see what you can learn. When they do something amazing, like smiling on their first day of life, believe in the smile. (It might not be a gas pain. Pain usually makes even the tiniest of newborns cry.) DON'T: - Don't assume your infant doesn't understand what's happening. Infants are finely tuned to what's going on around them, and learning all the time from you and the environment. - Don't talk over the infant, especially about experiences that involve him or her. For example, if you tell the story of the birth, include your infant by slowing down the story when they start to wave their arms and breathe faster, and acknowledge that they have a birth experience too. - Don't regularly over-stimulate your infant with crowds, bright lights and loud noises. A peaceful environment and lots of contact and connection will help the baby develop a peaceful approach. - Don't abandon your baby at night. The baby instinctively knows it's not safe to be alone at night. - Don't put your baby in front of the TV. The flicker of the screen is not healthy for brain development. Ran with fact box "Baby Dos and Don'ts," which has been appended to this story. The Edmonton Journal 2006 and I might add I love Noah Wyle even more...AND he is back on ER tomorrow!!!