NICHD: REINVENTING THE WHEEL

James W. Prescott, Ph.D.

THOSE WHO CANNOT REMEMBER THE PAST ARE CONDEMNED TO REPEAT IT

George Santayana The Life of Reason (1905) 

The Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)

ON 30 MARCH 2015, the NICHD provided a public press release that described an intervention to teach mothers of preterm infants how to interact with their babies more effectively, which resulted in better weight gain and growth for the infants, a study funded in part by the National Institutes of Health.

Maternal interaction improves growth, weight gain in preemies

Themes: 
sensory deprivation
culture

The Only Power Strong Enough

 

Carly Elizabeth is seven months young today, just this week beginning to pre-crawl. I wish I could be so attentive, persistent, focused, so sensitive and aware of everything instead of being preoccupied with all my stuff. Carly craves engagement and it is truly one of the most challenging tasks as a parent to keep up, to stay in the present moment, to share this experience together right now. Oh, how easy it is to give that demand for complete engagement over to some mechanical or technological thing, but at what price?

Themes: 
attachment
bonding
culture

Michel Odent, MD

Author: 
Michele Odent

Michel Odent describes how changes in birth practices are altering individual human beings, the cultures they create and implicitly the future of the species.

Suzanne Arms

Author: 
Suzanne Arms

Suzanne Arms describes the challenges the natural birth movement has faced and continues to face.

Suzanne Arms

Author: 
Suzanne Arms

Since 1973, Suzanne Arms has been an outspoken visionary, multi-book author, photojournalist, inspired teacher and public speaker: wise, passionate and compassionate. She synthesizes earth-based wisdom and modern science about how best to bring humans into the world and care for the mother-baby bond, so that everyone benefits and families can thrive. Her perspective is both broad and deep, as she weaves history, politics, economics, psychology, spirituality, public health, cross-cultural issues, eco-feminism and the feminine into a beautiful tapestry of knowledge.

Ashley Montagu

Author: 
Ashley Montagu

Our first Touch the Future interview was recorded in my home with Ashley Montagu in 1994, an anthropologist and humanist who popularized issues such as race and gender and their relationship to politics and human development. Ashley authored over fifty books including Life Before Birth, Touching, On Being Human, The Nature of Human Aggression, The Natural Superiority of Women, Growing Young and many others. In 1995 The American Humanist Association named him the humanist of the Year for revolutionizing our understanding of human nature.

We can't solve a problem at the level of the problem

Forgive me for restating the obvious. It is really very simple. Rape, domestic violence, child abuse, depression, addictions, chronic anxiety, fear, rage, most chronic diseases; diabetes, obesity, Alzheimer’s, many hormonal cancers; breast, testicular, heart disease, ALS, attention disorders, bullying, gangs, male-female inequity, poverty, the failure of education, corporate exploitation of human beings and the environment, you get the point, are expressions of failed or impaired capacity to relate nonviolently with other human beings, society, culture and with nature. All are attachment disorders, attachment being attuned, empathic, respectful, caring relationships.

Themes: 
culture
parenting
self image

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