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Prenatal Bonding Analysis
The Invisible Umbilical Cord

György Hidas, Jenő Raffai and

Judit Vollner
Cover image: © Getty Images
First English edition published 2023
by Routledge
4 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2023 György Hidas, Jenő Raffai and Judit Vollner
The right of György Hidas, Jenő Raffai and Judit Vollner to be identified
as authors of this work has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and
78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in
any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing
from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or
registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation
without intent to infringe.
First published in Hungarian in 2002 as Lelki köldökzsinór – Beszélgetek a
kisbabámmal by Válasz könyvkiadó, Budapest
Translation by Krisztina Horváth and Anna Major
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Hidas, György, author. | 1 Raffai, Jeno, author | 1 Vollner, Judit,
author
Title: Prenatal bonding analysis : the invisible umbilical cord /
György Hidas, Jeno Raffai, and Judit Vollner
Description: 1 Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY : Routledge, 2 |
Includes bibliographical references
Identifiers: LCCN 2022032215 (print) | LCCN 202203 (ebook) |
ISBN 9781032364230 (hardback) | ISBN 9781032346335 (paperback) |
ISBN 9781003331865 (ebook)
Subjects:
Classification: LCC BF720.P73 H53 2023 (print) | LCC BF720.P73
(ebook) | DDC 618.2/4019--dc23/eng/20220823
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022032215
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022032216
ISBN: 9781032364230 (hbk)
ISBN: 9781032346335 (pbk)
ISBN: 9781003331865 (ebk)
DOI: 10.4324/9781003331865
Typeset in Bembo
by Deanta Global Publishing Services, Chennai, India
Contents

Foreword viii
Introduction xi

1 The intelligent foetus 1

Prenatal behaviour 2
Self-induced activity 2
Reactive behaviour 4
Interactive-social movements 5
Contributions of research on premature births 6
Learning and memory 7
Auditory behaviour 8
Rhythm 9
Melody 11
Harmony 11
The musicality of the baby 12
A few words on lullabies 13
The significance of emotions and music 13

2 The ultrasonographic observation of foetal life 14

3 The effect of maternal stress and anxiety on

the foetus and child 22

4 Later effects of unwanted pregnancies 27

Empirical analyses 31
The Prague experiment 33
Initial results 33
vi Contents
The start in life 34
Development from a health and societal standpoint 34
Second and third phases of research 35
Experimental results 35
Conclusions 36

5 The psyche of the foetus in the mirror of

psychoanalytic theories 37

6 Approaches to the unconscious 44

7 The method of mother–foetus bonding analysis 55

8 Intrauterine encounters 75
Csilla Cseri: “You could see from his eyes that he wanted to know
what the world had in store for him” 75
Györgyi Szántó: “I felt that this kid has always been here and that
we knew each other” 80
Andrea Fejérvári: “You get to know yourself better as well” 88
Judit Gombocz: “As if I were hearing it with my non-existent
third ear, feeling it in my heart and soul” 91
Mónika Szoboszlai: “I want to unveil what it is to be” 97
Judit Pásztor: “When his head popped out, he immediately
opened his eyes and looked around curiously” 102
Angelika Seres: “… I found myself in a vast space, there,
the baby appeared” 109
Myrtill Várnai: “He basically exclaimed: I am not a
girl!” 115
Kinga Aradi: “Zita chose her own name” 120
Katalin Forró: “I felt she could hear and understand the things
I told her and that they really did get to her” 126
Adrienn Fenyvesi: “I had a strong feeling of being one with
him” 133
Enikő Pianovszky: “After we made contact, he was jumping
up and down for joy” 138
Csilla Pethe-Tóth: “It was like we both stepped out of our
body” 145
 Contents vii
Klára Lipcsei: “… I was inside, way inside, and outside I was
tearing” 152
Zsófi Müller: “… flight has a goal, but it is unknown what it
is” 160

Tables 167
References 169
Index 173
Foreword

A revolution is taking place in present-day psychology, regarding the field of

prenatal, intrauterine research. It has been proven that a human life, in psycho-
logical terms, begins not at birth, but conception. A new culture is blossoming
at the heels of this discovery, which brings us closer to the roots of our being
and prompts us to once and for all change our perception of humanity and
the world. It is especially significant for us that two Hungarian psychoanalysts,
György Hidas and Jenő Raffai, developed the methodology of establishing a
connection between a mother and the foetus developing in her womb, the
so-called mother–foetus bonding analysis, which aids the development of an
invisible umbilical cord carrying signals and information between the two.
Some international scientific circles deem this practice the greatest “invention”
since psychoanalysis; with its help, it is not only possible to set not-yet-born
infants on an optimal course of development but also to intervene with poten-
tially life-saving results in what were thought to be purely biological processes,
such as the untimely atrophy of the placenta or the rupture of the foetal mem-
brane, which have been the cause of foetal death and premature and physically
harmful births.
In 2001, the United Nations commissioned a panel of 12 scientists to, as
part of its International Decade for a Culture of Peace and Non-violence for
the Children of the World initiative, develop a parenting programme which it
could recommend to the governments of its constituent nations. Jenő Raffai,
one of the authors of this book and the president of the Hungarian Society
for Pre- and Perinatal Medicine and Psychology, was also invited to join this
exclusive panel – a proof of the international acclaim of the results of Hungarian
research. An international training programme will soon be initiated to adopt
this new technique.
The recognition of intrauterine connections may enter common knowl-
edge as a veritable mental bomb, so we can say without exaggeration that our
book uncovers thus far unknown depths of the creation of life and the human
psyche, of the origin of interpersonal relationships and attempts to solve the
mystery of the earliest, most profound and most intimate relationship that can
ever exist between two people. Perhaps we are not using too great a word
when we are of the opinion that this informative book, accessible to all, is
 Foreword ix
the first in the world to report of the experiences of expectant mothers who
have established an unfiltered connection with their baby still in the womb,
constitutes a sensation. In the self-revealing accounts, which are shockingly
powerful and sometimes filled with humour, new mothers attempt to express
the intangible state in which they were connected to their baby. The honest
retellings see the mothers reliving the scenes that took them aback, the coded
messages, the dialogues taking place after a transfer of thoughts. From their
accounts, the stories of how an unknown dimension, a new channel, where
they could experience the joy of finding one another, their babies’ emotions,
intentions, and even their character, unfold sensitively in front of the reader.
Naturally, mothers with different personalities and attitudes approached their
babies through differing pathways, thus experiencing contact at various levels
of intensity. However, they are unanimous when it comes to the effects of
prenatal bonding analysis. Following birth, there was recognition in the locked
eyes of every mother and her baby, and gained proof through thousands of
tiny signs of the already established relationship they had which needed not to
be created, only continued. All mothers reported of their child’s psychologi-
cal harmony, their happiness, trust, and the increased rate of their intellectual
and motor-skill development. (The maturity and the intelligence quotient of
children – well above their age level – who partook in bonding analysis have
been confirmed via measurements of the latest studies.)
Prenatal Bonding Analysis is an informative book for the average reader, for
the parent expecting and planning for a child, for those interested in psychol-
ogy, and all who are susceptible to the changes in the spiritual perspective of
our time. In the first seven chapters, Jenő Raffai and György Hidas present, via
the underlying science, in a clear manner rich in turns of phrase, the roots of
prenatal psychology as well as the technique of bonding analysis. The enthral-
ling, exciting first-hand accounts, which, as the editor of the book, I myself
recorded, can be read in the second half.
My co-authors, that is, the developers of the technique, György Hidas and
Jenő Raffai, and I feel it important to attach an explanation to the third chap-
ter, and thus allow the reader a glance into the inner workings of the process.
Initially, our intention was to have the experts explain, in commentaries at the
end of the interviews, a few potentially confounding events. However, being
in possession of the transcripts, we decided that it would be a mistake to inter-
rupt these experiences with dry, rational explanations – moreover, I should not
even obstruct the flow of erupting emotions and memories with my questions;
this would be overly pedantic, fastidious even. The arising questions thus do
not remain open, for the reader can, to an extent, find an answer in the first
chapters of the book, into which the authors have quasi pre-incorporated the
commentaries.
The content-appropriate format also revealed itself during the documenta-
tion of the interviews, which, due to the informative nature of the book, is
unusual. It turned out that these emotions and images surfacing from uncon-
scious depths take shape best in a monologue format, well-known from drama
x Foreword
and literature. I endeavoured to avoid a rounded-out, artificial text, so I strived
to preserve the momentary nature, honesty and dramatic sway of the accounts
by including the occasional stutter, the search for words, the wandering and
sometimes dormant trains of thought, and the revealing slip of the tongue. The
ideal intake method, in essence – just as that of the theatrical genre – would
be audiovisual; however, this is still a purely written text. Dear Reader, please
then “listen” to these intimate retellings with joy!
I would like to thank all 15 mothers, who, in the interest of our education,
laid bare these so-far-secret thoughts and emotions, personal and stemming
from the deepest sources.
It by all means deserves mentioning that the idea for the book presented
itself in the company of Judit Révi, my friend and colleague, a year and a half
ago. She, however, was unable to participate in the creation of the book due
to a prolonged stay abroad. I owe her my thanks for her intellectual assistance
and our inspirational brainstorming sessions.
Judit Vollner
Introduction

The first environment of the unborn child is the womb. There is a relation-
ship between mother and foetus from the very first moment, and not only on
a physical and biological level but also on a psychological one. They are con-
nected by a spiritual umbilical cord. Every development in the mother’s psy-
chological world affects the body and soul of the baby. However, the stimuli
and stressors of the external world reach the baby as well. The latest research
shows that the mother’s attitude towards her unborn baby has great bearing
on the child’s development, postnatal personality, relationships and integration
into society. The child’s experiences in the womb influence its physical and
psychological development, personality and the quality of later relationships.
Pregnancy and birth encapsulate the deepest questions of human life and
society, and, at the same time, are the deepest and most intimate events pos-
sible between two people. Society – with its laws, regulations, prohibitions
and recommendations, material conditions, security or insecurity, formal ethi-
cal requisites and informal moral commands and so on – has an effect on our
intimate life. Therefore, the most intimate event, the birth of a child, becomes
statistical data for, and macrosocietal subject of, demographic balance, societal
reproduction, labour force politics, military interests, or in the case of decreas-
ing birth rates, a matter of life and death for the nation.
Human life is continuous. Our common sense tells us that it starts with con-
ception and ends with death. However, our experience as psychotherapists tells
us that human life starts as far back as two generations at the least, in the home
of the maternal and paternal grandparents. We inherit not only our genes and
chromosomal conditions, but also our epigenetics, social and cultural condi-
tions, as well as psychosocial structures. They start to take effect even before
conception, as seen with wanted or planned children, who get a much better
chance in life compared to unwanted or unplanned ones. The prenatal period
is not only just one phase in the continuity of our life, such as birth, childhood,
adolescence, adulthood, menopause, old age or death. These phases are inter-
dependent, while each one of them has its own specificity. Human life is con-
tinuous; each developmental stage is equally important, as they are inseparable
from each other and together create the wholeness of human life. The human
being forms a whole on this continuum with all his or her human functions,
xii Introduction
including the physical, biochemical, immunological, endocrinological and psy-
chological. Therefore, there is no single occurrence in human phenomenology
that we can trace back to only one phase or function for an explanation.
This continuity starts in the mother’s womb. What the foetus experiences
in the womb is a learning process, too. As David Chamberlain puts it: “the
womb is the first school of life, and we have all attended it.” Learning is a
necessary condition of survival because it makes the organism able to adapt to
different conditions. There is no survival without adaptation, and this is not
possible without previous experiences. This requires a capacity for memory
and retention. The foetus swims in a river of information from the start, which
it receives through different biochemical channels. These are transformed into
memory traces and stored, and become the potential sources of learning pro-
cesses. It is possible, therefore, to activate these prenatal memory traces and
information sources in later life.
Every integrative process – whether biochemical, hormonal, immunologi-
cal or psychological – starts at conception. Prenatal stress, depression, hormonal
imbalances, immunological problems, infections and environmental influences,
relationship disorders, as well as parental attitudes and conflicts, all affect the
foetal brain and the development of personality. Therefore, the prenatal stage
of life possesses great preventive potentials when it comes to psychological,
mental and physical challenges.
One of the preventive methods is mother–foetus bonding analysis, which
we developed in the mid-1990s, after a decade-long research process. With this
method, the mother and foetus can establish a deep, unprecedented relation-
ship with each other. They can take their fate into their own hands; they are
capable of promoting the development of one another as much as the limits of
possibility will allow them to.
György Hidas, Jenő Raffai
1 The intelligent foetus

We face an exceptionally difficult task in trying to define intelligence. It is no

accident that no one has been able to do this perfectly so far. Too many people
use the concept in too many ways for its content to be well-definable. We talk
about intelligence in contexts of kinetic, affective, even social, thus associating
more to the concept than merely the cognitive capacities. When talking about
the intelligence of the foetus, we will attempt to outline all of these factors.
It is possible that the mere title of this chapter is provocative in and of itself
in a culture which regards foetuses as vegetative beings, whose psychological
development starts only after birth. Scientific research has confuted this archaic
prejudice on many occasions. However, this way of thinking has been with us
for over a thousand years. It is part of our evolutionary and cultural inheritance,
encapsulated in an entity which is among the least changeable in the world:
human consciousness.
In trying to describe the intelligence of the foetus, we must take into account
the deterministic influence of both mother and father, as well as all those who
are emotionally significant to the two. The continuous and active dialogue
with all of these people fundamentally influences the emotional and intellectual
development of the foetus. Consequently, the developmental level of new-
borns varies greatly at the time of birth. In consonance with the newest sci-
entific research, we therefore seek to emphasize that environmental influences
outweigh genetic factors in significance with regard to the development of
intelligence. Researchers in Pittsburgh (McGue 1977) concluded that genetic
predisposition is responsible for only one-third of the factors that promote
intelligence, while intrauterine environmental factors are responsible for the
remaining two-thirds, following a reexamination and analysis of all available
data. The authors define the intrauterine environment as not only the mother’s
hormonal and biochemical network, but her interrelational systems and their
influence on the development of the foetus as well.
Scientific research tells us that human behaviour is complex and cohesively
built from the earliest stages on. For example, the human heart starts beat-
ing one month after conception, and, naturally, continues to do so through
the intricate process of its own development. Similarly, the nervous system
works continuously and its functioning makes its own further development

DOI: 10.4324/9781003331865-1
2 The intelligent foetus
and differentiation possible. From the tenth week on, movements thus far
spastic and irregular can be observed becoming refined and elegant in form.
Further evidence shows babies engaging in motility-related games from the
middle of the second trimester and onward.

Prenatal behaviour
Movement has several functions in and of itself, exploration, self-defence,
self-expression and communication being a few among them. Body language
expresses need, interest, ability and cognitive processes in a manner that can
hardly be misunderstood. It therefore exceeds verbal communication in many
respects, as it is formed earlier on, accelerates all forms of communication,
recurs often, and carries the same meaning lifelong. We all speak this language.
Chamberlain (1996) divided intrauterine behaviour and manners of movement
into three main categories: self-induced, reactive, and interactive.

Self-induced activity
Ultrasonographic investigations tell us that foetal motility emerges from the
sixth week on, and manifests itself in the following movements by the tenth
week: hand to head, hand to mouth and lips, extension and contraction of
limbs, spinning around its own axis, opening and closing of mouth, and swal-
lowing. These movements suggest that the baby’s repertoire of intrauterine
movements is not reflex-based, or based on reactivity to external stimuli,
but is instead spontaneous and self-induced. A fact of foetal life is the earlier
appearance of self-induced movement than its externally induced counterparts.
Interestingly, twins often exhibit entirely independent profiles of motion,
which they carry with themselves postpartum. Tajani and Ianniruberto (1990)
observed almost all babies between the tenth and fifteenth week already
respond within moments to the mother laughing or coughing.
Babies are able to continuously move for a maximum of seven and a half
minutes by the end of the first trimester, with resting periods lasting a maxi-
mum of five and a half minutes. Analysis of movements from the third trimes-
ter shows these motions to remain present until the baby simply runs out of
adequate space to perform them. Babies begin travelling from one end of the
uterus to the other as they grow, thrusting themselves away from the uterine
wall by foot. This travel requires an elegant, lengthwise spiralling movement,
consisting of the turning of the spinal column, shoulders and head, as well as
the use of spinal column muscles. This artistically executed manoeuvre stays
unseen for several weeks after birth. The root cause of this lies in the momen-
tary inability of the newborn’s musculoskeletal system to cope with gravita-
tional struggles.
Immobility merits a short mention as well, which also has not avoided the
interest of researchers. Milani-Comparetti (1981) presupposed three causes:
pathological morphosis (death, paralysis, exposure to toxins etc.), anticipation