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ABSTRACT: As scientific knowledge of life before birth continues to increase, the prenate is revealed to be more sensitive and capable than we ever thought possible, opening up new opportunities for growth and ideal communications between babies and their mothers and fathers. Working against this force for good, the world environment becomes ever more toxic and invasive bringing hazards directly into the womb. A mother's own stresses and emotions constitute yet another environmental hazard. At stake is the future health of individual persons, the stability of families, and the peace of society.
INTRODUCTION
We are rapidly accumulating research which reveals the true dimensions of life before birth. Through many windows of observation, we can now see-for the first time in human history-what is actually happening in the womb. There is good news and bad news. We can no longer think that the placenta can protect the prenate from anything bad going on in the mother's body, or that the mother's body can protect the prenate from bad things going on in the world. Mother and baby are one, facing together the perils of air, water, and earth compromised by the toxic residues of modern chemistry and physics. Parents are perhaps the last ones to learn-and their children the first ones to suffer-these tragic realities of modern life. This is bad news.
At the same time, research is revealing the true capacities of the unborn, their precocious sensory development, their exquisite sensitivity and responsiveness, and their ability to learn from what is happening in the world of mother and father. This should be good news. Of course, the prenatal environment can be a blessing or a curse depending on the parents. The opportunities are surprising. In this presentation, I will first emphasize the supreme importance of the stage of life between conception and birth as a time which is formative. As everyone knows, it is a time when the physical body is formed, including all the essential organs, the hormonal glands, the immune system, and the nervous system-which together determine to such a great degree the quality of a person's life. A well-formed body is surely a parent's greatest gift to a child.
Secondly, I will share some of the research which tells us...