Support in Pregnancy and Preparation for Birth
The use of the Tomatis method in supporting pregnant women began in 1988 at the maternity ward of the Vesoul hospital in France, under the direction of Dr Klopfenstein. The results obtained over two years made it a permanent practice in the centres that adopt the method.
In the book Nove mesi in paradiso (Nine Months in Paradise), dedicated to prenatal life and to the emotional experience of the foetus during that period, Tomatis recounts how, in the French hospital of the city of Vesoul, it was possible — thanks to the foresight of the head of gynaecology, Dr Klopfenstein — to measure objectively the effects obtained with the Tomatis method by the future mothers and their newborns.
Having heard of Tomatis's works, Dr Klopfenstein proposed to the regional health authority the installation of Electronic Ears in the rooms of the maternity ward, in the waiting rooms and in the labour rooms, offering to the women who so wished the chance to take part in a programme of preparation for birth with the Tomatis method. For his part, he undertook to carry out a study to prove the efficacy, or otherwise, of the method in the preparation for birth. Astonished by the results, he decided to begin a study on the transmission of sound by the bone pathway in the pregnant woman.
The testimony of Dr Klopfenstein, as reported in the book:
We use a standard programme furnished by the Tomatis centre of Paris, which transmits progressively filtered music with a very rapid lateralisation onto the right ear. Besides the studies carried out and those in progress, I observe that we "awaken" many things in the women. The sound, thanks to the vibrators, reaches the brain directly and passes into the whole cortex. It floods the entire auditory zone and, by extension, a whole series of neurological circuits. Sometimes, from the very first sessions, the women change their mental structure and behaviour. Some, very passive, grow stronger, become more assertive, to the great astonishment of their husbands. Their life changes, they discover themselves to be mothers. I have the impression that we activate forgotten mechanisms, difficult to measure.
This preparation has curative effects not only upon relaxation. I observe a whole therapeutic periphery, like a series of small satellites still not well localised. I have had three cases of women who, under the Electronic Ear, saw their spasmophilia disappear without the aid of medicines. Others suspended an anxiolytic treatment because they no longer felt the need for it. All these women detoxified by themselves, without the aid of barbiturates or of other products. It is true that during pregnancy women have more defences. They live through many things and develop their biological immunity. The Electronic Ear may also function as a powerful placebo.
During the sessions, creativity increases. The women discover their artistic capacities. They begin to draw… They are the first to be surprised by their talent. These women have another point in common: the incredible interest they show in their child. Immediately after the birth they want to hold him in their arms, to touch him, to speak to him…
Further on:
…the Electronic Ear brings together several advantages: the women are relaxed, the birth unfolds in the best conditions, and the mother-child relationship is good. What more could one ask?"
In conclusion:
In this hospital, where I have been head of department for 17 years, we carry out 17,000 visits, 1,000 births, 200 operations. When a future mother presents herself, I systematically propose to her a preparation with the Electronic Ear, explaining that it is a method of musical relaxation. I had the good fortune to see the Regional Health Authority accept my project, and to have been able to keep all my commitments towards this institution. The experience has now lasted two years, and the inspector general — today retired — said to me: "Your method, it ought to be applied in all maternity wards." It is the finest compliment and the finest recognition I could have hoped for.
The preparation for birth with the Electronic Ear represents only 2% of our activity. No more than 20% accept it. The ideal would be to reach 50%. This lack of participation may be regrettable, all the more so as the sessions are borne by the health service and by the hospital. In the private sector this preparation would be costly… but perhaps, paradoxically, more widespread. The experience is little known and the results are underestimated. Thus the information struggles to reach the public. Nevertheless, we realise that we are dealing with something important."
The statistics released by the hospitals that apply the method as support in pregnancy indicate very significant results, such as:
- a diminution of the time of labour
- a birth weight slightly above average
- a reduction in the use of forceps, ventouse, spatula
- the Apgar index shows that the "Tomatis babies" recover more rapidly than other newborns
A final point to underline is that concerning the evolution of the "Tomatis" children after birth. The testimonies of parents, paediatricians and teachers give a glimpse of results to be brought to the attention of all those who take an interest in the future of the child.
The children born to mothers who followed a Tomatis training during pregnancy show themselves to be more lively and present from the very first days of life, with a more rapid focusing of the gaze and a greater capacity for reaction to stimuli in general. This may be explained by the fact that, receiving musical stimuli from the intrauterine period onwards — thanks to bone conduction and to the mother's pelvis, which functions as a sounding box — the child's nervous system begins much more rapidly the construction of synapses, the connections between neurons, which are at the basis of the circulation of information within the nervous system. This precocity is then found in the subsequent stages of the child's development. It is the same that we find in the children of women who sing for more than three hours a day for their child during pregnancy.
Bibliography
A. Tomatis, La notte uterina, Como, Red Edizioni, 1996-2009
Michèle Tordjman, Préparation des femmes enceintes, Congrés Tomatis, Paris, 1991