Prenatal ecology

Our first environment: The maternal uterus and the conditions surrounding gestation, delivery and postpartum.

By Uma Diaz

Taking care of our first ecosystem

Prenatal ecology is a term used by obstetrician Michel Odent to title one of his books, in which he delves into the origins of the human capacity to love. In this masterpiece he introduces the idea of «the certification of love» and talks about how different cultures have approached a natural and physiological issue such as childbirth, often interfering with it and disturbing this natural event.

Since the 20th century, two phenomena have developed in parallel that are endangering the survival of life on the planet and the human species: the industrialization of agriculture and childbirth.  When all vital processes were transformed and industrialized for a good part of humanity, we began to live far from our mammalian behaviors, distancing ourselves from our animality, our relationship with our environment, the various forms of life, and ultimately, with nature.

Mother earth ceased to be considered a living being and began to be treated as a resource and a production machine, just like women’s bodies, which began to be seen as reproductive machines and their offspring labor. Any kind of knowledge related to the earth, plants, and nature was pursued, thus the whole mammalian aspect of motherhood was also pursued and dominated.

With that paradigm shift, we forgot that absolutely everything is interconnected and mechanical thinking was instituted based on division and disconnection, domination, and separation of offspring from their mothers. We see this in the case of many clinical deliveries where, after the birth of the baby, skin-to-skin contact is not prioritized in the golden hour with the mother, or also in the case of breastfeeding, where exclusive breastfeeding is rarely supported and contact between the baby and the mother is limited to make room for the bottle and formula.

Prenatal ecology is a concept that I decided to adopt and deepen to raise awareness and make it evident that absolutely everything is connected, as is the case with the care of the earth, the care of mothers, and human offspring. Nowadays, the influence of the environment on maternal and child health is recognized. Contamination of food by industrial agriculture, genetic modification of seeds, or air or water pollution, has been shown to have adverse effects on the health of mothers and babies. These environmental exposures in the first trimester of pregnancy are associated with a higher probability of preeclampsia, arterial hypertension, low birth weight, premature birth, and congenital modifications.This is why it is urgent to transform the social and cultural view of maternity, pregnancy, childbirth, and postpartum.

Human beings need a suitable habitat for each stage of their lives. The maternal uterus and the conditions surrounding gestation, birth, and postpartum is the first ecosystem of the human species, but we have interfered so much in nature that we have industrialized absolutely all vital processes, including childbirth and breastfeeding.

Prenatal ecology is a proposal and is the philosophy at UMAY. We believe that human health is largely shaped within the maternal womb. Together with childbirth, postpartum, and a loving upbringing, the first seven years of life are the primordial structure for the good physical, emotional, and spiritual development of the human being.

We know that it is extremely important for collective, personal, and ecological well-being to have a healthy planet and that it is crucial to approach an ecosystemic view that includes environmental factors, natural processes, and the emotional environment for the proper development of the seeds that babies are.

At ✨UMAY we seek to place the prenatal stage and early childhood at the center of our care, as they are the most important periods of all human life, and therefore the most relevant for society in general. We work through this concept to generate a space for reflection, and informative content and to promote good living by focusing on the care of the Mom-baby dyad, as the central goal of any sustainable society and in harmony with nature.

UMAY is a project dedicated to honoring life, we are at the service of unborn babies, mothers, families, and Mother Earth.

Prenatal Ecology is:

🍃Caring for the planet as is the heritage of the little ones.

🍃Love for nature

🍃Uterine ecology.

🍃Healthy pregnancies

🍃Respectful childbirth

🍃Breastfeeding

🍃Mammary postpartum and puerperium

🍃Porteo

🍃Healthy attachment parenting

🍃Ecological diapers

🍃Respect for early childhood and mothers.

🍃Menstrual Wellness

🍃Food sovereignty