Prenatal Communication Between Mother & Baby

Translation by Seika Smith

I STAYED STILL BECAUSE I FELT SORRY FOR YOU, MOMMY.

Conceiving a child is one of life's big dreams, involving both body and soul. Many mothers treasure memories such as their pregnancy, childbirth, and the moment when they finally held their baby. What if the baby himself could remember his time in the womb and his own birth? Perhaps little children might still remember. With that in mind, in 2000 the author conducted a survey of 79 mothers with children aged from 2 to 7 years. The results were beyond such memories. In the survey they also asked how the children reacted when they talked about their memories of being in the womb.

When one mother asked her child, "Why didn't you move very much inside my tummy?" the child answered, "Because you said 'It hurts'. I stayed still because I felt sorry for you, Mommy."

(Boy – 4 years 9 months)

AKIRA IKEGAWA was born in Tokyo, Japan in 1954. He is a Doctor of Medicine from the Teikyo University Medical School. After working in obstetrics and gynecology at the Ageo Central General Hospital as the head director, he established the Ikegawa Clinic in Yokohama in 1987. In September 2000, he spoke about "fetal memories" at the Joint Medical Seminar of the Japanese Medical and Dental Practitioners for Improvement of Medical Care, and this report was introduced in newspapers.