Studies have been conducted on the prenatal experience (PBE), one in which the person has clear memories of consciousness before birth. In most PBE cases, the details of those memories can be verified through those who were there at the time of the birth, usually the mother as the primary person. This article highlights some of the salient features of EBPs based on information from three studies.
It is quite obvious that consciousness (the main aspect of consciousness) exists after life ends. This has been demonstrated time and time again by near-death experiences (NDEs) when consciousness leaves the body and is able to perceive worldly events without the aid of the five senses. The question of whether consciousness functions in the same way before a person’s birth can be very absorbing for those who see meaning in the reincarnation paradigm. The writer has found three survey studies in this regard. A brief attempt is made here to share the related findings. For more details, the reader is referred to the three books associated with the studies, all available on Amazon.com.
Study 1: Psychologist Dr. Helen Wambach wrote a book called ‘life before life‘ in 1979. Explores the fascinating answers to probing questions asked of 750 subjects under hypnosis about life before birth. Wambach says that 90% of her subjects show images from their past lives. She adds that “I am convinced that the time has come to rigorously study the plausibility of reincarnation.” Three of her questions to her subject under hypnosis and her answers are as follows:
Question 1: Did you choose to be born?
81% of their subjects said they chose to be born and that it was their choice. However, only 28% felt excited about being alive again; they felt they had planned carefully and were ready to go.
Question 2: Why did you choose the 20th century?
About 59% gave relevant answers to this question. His response contained many different reasons for the choice. Some felt that their choice of the specific time period was to have contact with particular people who chose the same period. One response was, “I came in this time period to right past wrongs and resolve my guilt over certain relationships.”
Question 3: Why are we here on earth?
Not all subjects were clear on this item, but quite a few gave interesting answers. Some of these people said that there is much to learn on this planet, especially in terms of relationship, love and humility, and that there are many experiences, good and bad, to go through. Others mentioned about learning that can help overcome fear and loneliness. Some indicated the need to be with people to compensate for the damage they had caused in previous lives.
The above samples represent a very small part of Wambach’s research. Her book contains much more fascinating information about prenatal memories.
Study 2: This work is also related to consciousness before birth, but not through regression, hypnosis, or drugs. Elizabeth and Neil Carman compiled a book on PBE through interviewees recalling their prenatal existence while fully sober and awake. The title of the book is ‘Cosmic cradle, spiritual dimensions of life before birth‘. A report on the book says that it takes us beyond the conventional materialist idea that heredity and social environment explain human life. In contrast, the drama of our lives is planned long before birth.
Where was your soul before you were born? If your soul is immortal, did it have a “life” before you were born? Did you choose your life and your parents? Is reincarnation real? Elizabeth and Neil Carman address these questions through interviews with adults and children. They also claim that the Buddha pointed out four modes of human birth:
1. Entering the mother’s womb with full awareness, remaining in the womb with full awareness, and experiencing birth consciously. Enlightened masters report these memories.
2. To enter the womb of the fully conscious mother, remain in the womb with full consciousness, but lose consciousness during birth.
3. Entering the mother’s womb fully conscious, but losing consciousness in the womb and throughout labor.
4. Entering the mother’s womb unconsciously and remaining unconscious throughout the time of the womb and birth. This heavily veiled memory is more typical of most human births.
The above interpretation of the Buddha clearly points to the fact that prenatal awareness is a fact.
Study 3: This PMH Atwater study, primarily on near-death experiences, also touches on PBEs. The title of her book is ‘The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Near Death Experiences’. She says that a third of the 277 child experimenters in her research base had clear and consistent memories of events before they were born. A particularly interesting study is the one presented below.
Two weeks before the birth of Carroll Gray of Atlanta, Georgia, the doctor informed his mother that the heart was not beating and that the baby was dead. His father, who was anxiously expecting a child, was greatly disappointed by this. He accused Carroll’s mother of having killed her child; he threw her off the bed and broke her uterus. The mother was rushed to the hospital and a stillborn baby was born. But, like a miracle, the boy began to breathe! What was even more surprising was the fact that, after two and a half years, Carroll uttered the same words that his father said at the moment of throwing his wife out of bed. Everyone was obviously dumbfounded as the family had never discussed that unfortunate incident with each other. Furthermore, Carroll also recalled the difficulties she went through when she was a newborn due to the unusual conditions of her birth.
Atwater says the Carroll-accurate stories are so numerous that they challenge the notion that unborn babies are aware of nothing outside their mother’s womb.
In conclusion: For people who are interested in understanding life’s long journey through many embodied and disembodied periods, the above studies can be invaluable as areas of spiritual exploration. Such studies broaden our perspectives on life and the afterlife. Our daily lives guided by such far-reaching ideas can have a depth and meaning that conventional belief systems can never achieve. Related matters are discussed on the website http://spirituality.yolasite.com