Occasionally I treat a baby without needing to treat Mum too. But more often than not, I do need to treat Mum (and sometimes Dad!). Mum and baby are in a co-regulation loop – if something is upsetting baby then Mum feels out of sorts, and vice versa – if something is unsettled within Mums’ system, then baby will feel out of sorts too. They are one unit. Babies do not understand themselves as separate beings for quite some time. Babies are sensitive creatures and can mirror, or at least sense that which is unhealed in their parents. I often wonder if many babies are empaths?
Each of us has an energetic field that communicates with the energetic field of others. Family members, especially those that live together can form a family field. As a craniosacral therapist and empath, I may be unable to shift or even tune into the baby’s system until I have treated Mum. In a biodynamic craniosacral therapy treatment the body chooses the priority for treatment – we call it the inherent treatment plan. I tune into the loudest imprints within that family – what needs to be healed first. The mum is often the keystone of the family, her body and psyche act as a role model for health, consciously and unconsciously shifting what gets in the way of a sense of balance – both for herself and the family as a whole. Mums may simply need one cranio treatment after birth or more, if they have a history of birth trauma (from when they were born) or other early childhood trauma. These imprints may come to the surface when they birth their own child – an opportunity for healing!
Sometimes I see similar patterns in Mum and baby. For example, if a mother came into this world via forceps-assisted birth, she may be holding a stress imprint around this or she may have chronic neck/jaw issues. This has likely never been acknowledged. As she prepares to birth her own child, or during the birth itself, these unseen forces can influence her and potentially result in forceps being needed for the birth of her child. Any factors affecting pregnancy and birth may trace back to our own birth origins. It is useful to notice where your fear arises during pregnancy or birth and, if possible, before birth ask your mother for extra information about your own early life history. These imprints are unconscious and held in the tissues of our body and the psyche. The new somatic imprints of pregnancy and birth may trigger a feeling of stuckness or helplessness from our history. History then repeats. It is a new perspective on intergenerational trauma! It’s often a good idea to schedule a cranio treatment prior to conception or birth, especially if you know your own birth was difficult, so the cycle doesn’t continue.
One time I had the opportunity to treat three generations of a family – the baby, the mother and the grandmother and in all three sessions there was a compressive tight area on one side of the rib cage – not a common place to treat in craniosacral therapy. The maternal line is often a key influence. Remembering we gestate within our mother’s body for 9 months – sharing all of her experiences and emotions (and imprints from previous overwhelming events). Going back even further…we were also an egg– in our mother’s body – her whole life, starting in the womb of our grandmother’s body. We were present to some degree in the field of two people before we were even born. Each cell resonates with the cells around it – its environment. Just like each being resonates with the people and other energetic fields around them.
“For this reason the family field model holds the possibility for healing across space and time. Every new child brings an opportunity to address these objects”
“Children are important mirrors for the family field and it’s through them that objects are revealed”
Mia Kalef
In one baby cranio treatment – I felt strongly, a tight sore collarbone that was not responding to treatment (if it was babies imprint to heal, it should slowly soften and release as I tune into the underlying rhythms of health). I enquired to the mother – does she have a sore clavicle/collarbone or an old injury? She didn’t. But her husband, the baby’s father was currently complaining about a sore collar bone. And he wasn’t even in the room – he was at work!
Another unsettled baby that came for treatment – responded well to a couple of baby cranio treatments but he wasn’t truly at peace until I treated his mum. She had had pericarditis during pregnancy and this arose in the family field as a priority for treatment during his third treatment.
This is why I love this quote:
“The most important thing we can offer our children is our own healing”
Anne Lamott.
Healing may be physical, emotional or around our own birth imprints. Again, the baby does not know themselves as a separate being yet. They have come from source – oneness – and from within his mother’s body – a sense of blended togetherness. Now outside of the womb, they resonate with the energetic field of their family members. Babies ground themselves through their mothers and other family members.
When a parent brings a child/baby for craniosacral therapy it may be that the baby is actually bringing the parent for craniosacral therapy.
In summary, nine times out of ten, I see better results when Mum is open to receiving sessions during the course of treatment. Some flexibility is recommended depending on what arises in treatment but in an ideal scenario, it is recommended to book a Mum and baby treatment for the first session, with Mum being treated first on the day. This gives me a read on both systems. And most importantly, after treatment, the mother’s balanced nervous system and sense of wholeness acts as a resource for her baby in the coregulation loop, that is the parent-child relationship.
Flow Cranio and Lactation 