The following dialogue is posted with the permission of both parties. I
hope you find it interesting.
Best, Peter
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> Dear Mr. Comby,
> My name is Tierra True. I am a student of midwifery and avid live fooder
>and nutrition researcher. I read Instinctive Nutrition by Severen Schaeffer.
> There was a section on birth and 35 cases of instincto women giving birth
> painlessly with the amniotic sac still intact. Do you know about this.
Bruno Comby:
Yes, probably more than any one else because I searched for the women
concernedin the early 1990's. Gathering all the info available then
(after Schaeffer's book came out, as I remember), I came in contact
with, or was informed about, approximately 30 women who had given birth
while being under instinctive nutrition. I questionned all these cases,
or gathered info about those I couldn't join directly, about what the
pre-natal symptoms, the post-natal symptoms and of course how easy the
birth itself had been (this third point being the main idea we intended
to put forward in the film). We were then planning to make this into a
film but the project was interrupted for two reasons : 1/ lack of time
and money and 2/ because the film project was supposed to be centered on
the theme of "easy birth" but as I questionned these women one after
each other directly or by phone, and asked for the details, it appeared
that the act of birth itself wasn't always that easy with instinctive
nutrition. In other words, I found out that the spectacular info
presented by Schaeffer (who knew nothing about the subject, and
basically just repeated what Burger said, but Burger, as usual, tended
to give only the best side of the story). Therefore the initial idea
that "instinctive birth is a painless quick and easy operation" was
somewhat overdone, though also partly true, and that therefore the film
would not be as interesting as initially planned. To give a very
positive and enthousiastic story of "instinctive birth" it would have
been necessary to present only a very small number of the "good-story"
cases, which is what you call "cheating with reality" and it wasn't a
good thing to do. Therefore the initial idea of the film, which was and
still is interesting, to some extent, was abandoned. I was however
impressed by the fact that pre-natal and post-natal symptoms were almost
inexistent. I then turned to other research projects especially the
stressometer and tremor measurements on mice and humans.
On first generation raw-women, there are however many improvements
especially in the pre-natal and post-natal symptoms (who almost
disappear) but the act of giving birth can not really be presented as an
easy informal operation. This would be much exagerated. There still are
in most cases some pain and sometimes complications, and/or lengthy
work depending on the cases (each case being of course unique &
different).
It seems that the act of birth itself mainly depends on the shape of the
woman's skeleton and such geometrical, skeletal and muscular parameters
that don't change much at adult stage even after several months or years
of raw instinctive eating. They do change however at the second
generation of Pottenger cat's (experiments in the 1930's), for those who
grew up under instinctive nutrition. Pottenger did observe that AT THE
SECOND GENERATION, the delivery problems at birth were much improved on
his cats, but not much at the first generation. There is only one case
of second generation in humans that I know of today (one of Burger's
daughters now expecting her third baby). Everything was OK for her 2
first babies which she delivered alone without medical assistance and
outdoors in nature (in the middle of a forest sitting against a tree),
but an observation on only one mother is of course not significant.
At the first generation, there are improvements in the pre-natal
symptoms (such as : no varicoses, fatigue, depression, nausea, or other
typical symptoms often affecting pregnant women) as well as improvements
in the post natal symptoms (no problems usually with the milk-feeding,
fatigue, fast if not instant recuperation of mother's energy, etc). In
fact, most of these symptoms indeed almost disappear if the diet has
been correctly practised since at least a few weeks or months earlier.
These improvements are the result of a better physiological balance and
better quality of the blood. It usually takes practising instinctive
nutrition since at least a few weeks before the changes can be observed.
There is discussion on whether it is beneficial or not to change a
pregnant woman's diet after she learns she is pregnant, because of the
heavy disintoxication reactions (release of toxins from the tissues into
the bloodstream) that may affect the foetus. My personal belief on this
point is that it is always better to have an improved nutrition at
whatever stage of pregnancy one starts. It is however preferable to
avoid drastic changes (especially going back and forth from raw to
cooked diet) during pregnancy.
Note that the symptoms usually observed at the beginning of pregancy
(nausea, vomitting, fatigue, attraction to specific foods...) can be
interpreted as the result of an intensive detox of the body probably
destined to protect the baby just before the most fragile period which
is located approximately between the 4th and 12th week of pregnancy. At
that moment is when intensive irradiation of a foetus gives the most
undesirable mutations. The same time span is when the baby is also most
sensitive to mutations caused by chemicals, medical drugs or abnormal
substances from food intake or food-detox. This is because a great
number of cellular differentiations happen during this period to
fabricate the different tissues of the foetus. It is most important to
avoid smoking, taking medical drugs or drugs in general, and to have the
best possible nutrition during this period and in the weeks before. It
takes about 1-3 months to purify an adult's blood after the diet change.
But the act of birth itself is still a heavy job even with instinctive
nutrition, with sometimes significant mechanical complications, labor,
pain and problems, not more, nor less than in usual cooked diets.
Instinctive delivery problems at the mechanical level (baby too big,
opeing of the bones too narrow...) are not much different than standard
(cooked) births, at least for the first generation (this may be
different with the second generation of instinctive eaters).
It is true that the amniotic pouch stays intact until the expulsion
itself to protect the baby. The pouch tears apart at the last moment
when the baby is expulsed. I feel it is a mistake to rip open the pouch
with a knife or other sharp instrument to provoke the birth (as is often
done in clinics to gain time and accelerate the birth, so that the
midwife and doctor can go home earlier).
Another difference is that newborn instinctive babies will come out
clean without the often observed (when mother is on a cooked diet) small
layer of white greasy stuff on their body that needs to be cleaned after
birth. They usually come out clean, nice and pink (after breathing
starts), not requiring to be cleaned.
The really instinctive women who are not afraid to do so can, as many
other mammals do, cut the cord with their teeth a few minutes after the
blood has stopped pulsating and has coagulated spontaneously inside. The
blood circulation in the cord should not be interrupted artificially
with elastics or clips or strings as long as the blood is still
pulsating inside it. Some women (but most are reluctant to do so) will,
like other mammals often do, eat their own placenta partly or totally
after birth. The father or other members of the tribe may appreciate
tasting also if they are hungry enough...
Tierra:
> Are there documented cases and stories of these women and more since 1986
>when I.N. was written. If you could please recommend where I can go to get more
> information on this, I would greatly appreciate it.
I'm afraid you won't find much more general information or statistics,
than what is stated above, except possibly a few isolated case-stories
here and there.
Tierra:
>I would like to share this info with Sage-Femme Midwifery School and my
>presentation on pre-natal nutrition.
> Thank you,
> Tierra True
Feel free to share the info.
With best regards.
Bruno.
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