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Behind the Scenes
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In early 2001 Elmer Postle and I decided to make a documentary video
about the importance of being "met" as a baby coming into life. Our
idea was that the way we are welcomed into life might make a difference
to how we are able to express ourselves as we grow and develop. We
started out with a modest budget supplied by Beginnings, Inc. and were
able to film our first four subjects, David Chamberlain, Barbara
Findeisen, Joseph Chilton Pearce, and Sobonfu Some' with the start up
funds.
The moment I realized that I was making an important film (rather than
the educational video I started out to make) was on the day we did the
welcoming ritual with Sobonfu Some`. We were filming in Nevada City and
had about 30 hours to come up with the ritual welcoming circle which
needed to include at least one pregnant person. We spent the day on the
main street of Nevada City approaching random people and asking them to
join. At the moment of the filming, we waited to see who would show up
at our remote forest location.
Amazingly, we ended up with three
pregnant women and over a dozen participants! By the time we were ready
for the ritual, people were very cranky and tired of waiting. Sobonfu
walked into this not very welcoming circle, and demonstrated to us the
power of our desire for community, welcoming, and connection. With in
minutes, we were all singing an African welcoming song, and as the
ritual unfolded, everyone felt the power of what it is to be truly
welcomed into life by a community. Everyone was moved to tears at one
point or another, and I understood more clearly than ever the reason
why this film had to be made and shown to the world.
At the first fundraising event, David Crosby of Crosby Stills and Nash fame and Noah Wyle of ER
became committed to the project.
Sometime after this, the process of creating the film got a bit sidetracked - Elmer and I took different paths with the footage and it was difficult to merge the two approaches. Elmer returned to England. I struggled. It seemed overwhelming to actually live up to the potential of what we had begun to create. I wondered sometimes if I could really keep going ..
Finally, I found David Tarleton, a wonderful, warm and big hearted person as well as a very talented film editor. He was deeply touched by the material and was able to really understand the depth of the subject and its broad implications. He was very exicited by its potential and immediately climbed on board which helped get the project back on track.
At this point the project really took off again and I had to learn to take a back seat to the creative force that seems to drive the evolution and development of this film. I was given opportunity to film amazing scenes of birth and welcoming, and people approached me with footage that I needed and had been despairing of ever finding. In the end, our efforts were informed by the power of the story we were trying to tell, a story that seemed almost to tell itself.
About the Film - Our Intention
Our intention in making the film What Babies Want is primarily to make a social statement about the importance of early development in children and its effect on both individual well being and that of society at large. Although this documentary is filled with information about childbirth, infant development, and consciousness in infants, it also shows how our experiences as infants form patterns that can have repercussions that ripple throughout our entire lives. As Joseph Chilton Pearce says, we have an opportunity to put an end to violence simply in the way that we treat parents, particularly mothers, and infants during pregnancy and first 3 years of an infant's life.
Research into bioneurology is converging with research into the field of psychology. What this means is that we finally have scientific evidence that the brain and in fact the entire body of the infant forms, develops and grows in response to the environment. If the environment is hostile the person forms in a defensive manner, developing a defensive, hypervigilant nervous system and endocrine system designed to meet the demands of the hostile environment in which it finds itself.
If, on the other hand, an infant is born into an environment of love, warmth and acceptance then the person has the opportunity to develop a more flexible and creative nervous system, one less occupied with the immediate needs of defense. To quote Joe Pearce again, at every developmental point, the infant asks, "Can we go for more intelligence, or do we have to defend ourselves again?" We believe that the way we bring our babies into the world from preconception on has a signficant impact on their ability to know and to access their authentic selves. If infants are met with love and are acknowledged as persons with legitimate feelings and needs, they will be more fully able to respond in like manner, to develop a good sense of self esteem, and to care authentically for themselves and others.
Put another way, the process of learning how to trust, not only in others but also in oneself, begins immediately in life and a nuturing and accepting environment is the best context in which to learn. Before, during and after childbirth we have an opportunity to provide that context, thereby greatly improving the chances for healthy development of the individual and, by extension, a healthier society with a better chance of creating real and lasting world peace.
The moment I realized that I was making an important film (rather than
the educational video I started out to make) was on the day we did the
welcoming ritual with Sobonfu Some`. We were filming in Nevada City and
had about 30 hours to come up with the ritual welcoming circle which
needed to include at least one pregnant person. We spent the day on the
main street of Nevada City approaching random people and asking them to
join. At the moment of the filming, we waited to see who would show up
at our remote forest location. Amazingly, we ended up with three
pregnant women and over a dozen participants! By the time we were ready
for the ritual, people were very cranky and tired of waiting. Sobonfu
walked into this not very welcoming circle, and demonstrated to us the
power of our desire for community, welcoming, and connection. With in
minutes, we were all singing an African welcoming song, and as the
ritual unfolded, everyone felt the power of what it is to be truly
welcomed into life by a community. Everyone was moved to tears at one
point or another, and I understood more clearly than ever the reason
why this film had to be made and shown to the world. At the first fundraising event, David Crosby of Crosby Stills and Nash fame and Noah Wyle of ER
became committed to the project. Sometime after this, the process of creating the film got a bit sidetracked - Elmer and I took different paths with the footage and it was difficult to merge the two approaches. Elmer returned to England. I struggled. It seemed overwhelming to actually live up to the potential of what we had begun to create. I wondered sometimes if I could really keep going ..
Finally, I found David Tarleton, a wonderful, warm and big hearted person as well as a very talented film editor. He was deeply touched by the material and was able to really understand the depth of the subject and its broad implications. He was very exicited by its potential and immediately climbed on board which helped get the project back on track.
At this point the project really took off again and I had to learn to take a back seat to the creative force that seems to drive the evolution and development of this film. I was given opportunity to film amazing scenes of birth and welcoming, and people approached me with footage that I needed and had been despairing of ever finding. In the end, our efforts were informed by the power of the story we were trying to tell, a story that seemed almost to tell itself.
About the Film - Our Intention
Our intention in making the film What Babies Want is primarily to make a social statement about the importance of early development in children and its effect on both individual well being and that of society at large. Although this documentary is filled with information about childbirth, infant development, and consciousness in infants, it also shows how our experiences as infants form patterns that can have repercussions that ripple throughout our entire lives. As Joseph Chilton Pearce says, we have an opportunity to put an end to violence simply in the way that we treat parents, particularly mothers, and infants during pregnancy and first 3 years of an infant's life.
Research into bioneurology is converging with research into the field of psychology. What this means is that we finally have scientific evidence that the brain and in fact the entire body of the infant forms, develops and grows in response to the environment. If the environment is hostile the person forms in a defensive manner, developing a defensive, hypervigilant nervous system and endocrine system designed to meet the demands of the hostile environment in which it finds itself.
If, on the other hand, an infant is born into an environment of love, warmth and acceptance then the person has the opportunity to develop a more flexible and creative nervous system, one less occupied with the immediate needs of defense. To quote Joe Pearce again, at every developmental point, the infant asks, "Can we go for more intelligence, or do we have to defend ourselves again?" We believe that the way we bring our babies into the world from preconception on has a signficant impact on their ability to know and to access their authentic selves. If infants are met with love and are acknowledged as persons with legitimate feelings and needs, they will be more fully able to respond in like manner, to develop a good sense of self esteem, and to care authentically for themselves and others.
Put another way, the process of learning how to trust, not only in others but also in oneself, begins immediately in life and a nuturing and accepting environment is the best context in which to learn. Before, during and after childbirth we have an opportunity to provide that context, thereby greatly improving the chances for healthy development of the individual and, by extension, a healthier society with a better chance of creating real and lasting world peace.