Human Development:
THE NEW PARADIGM
Part I
Dr. Julie Gerland
Interviewed by Ciara Longman
for PERREAULT Magazine
For the last three decades
Dr. Julie Gerland has been a passionate advocate for prenatal maternal empowerment.
She is the Chief UN Representative for OMAEP (World Organization
for Prenatal Education Associations) and the Founder/Director of the
Holistic Parenting Programme: Preconception to Birth & Beyond.... Julie travels extensively with her husband François inspiring a paradigm shift for the world we want as an international speaker
and co-author.
CL:
Julie, you were on the Femme panel at the LA Conscious Life Expo, you were talking about the importance of what the mother experiences in pregnancy and how this affects the lifelong health and wellbeing of the human being.
How did you get interested in this?
Dr. Gerland:
One night at the age of 16, a very challenging point in my life, I had a profoundly life-changing experience. The next morning I woke up totally different. I felt completely and unconditionally loved, safe, known and connected. As humans we long to experience this blissful state. Deep inside of me I had just discovered it is possible.
We are not alone! Following this, the big question for me was; if this exists in everything, and it does, then why are we suffering so much?
So I travelled around the world looking for a solution in various areas of life such as religions, science, the United Nations, humanitarian actions and even setting up a children's centre in the slums of Hong Kong. My quest was to find out how we can bring about a healthy, happy and sustainable human family.
In the early 1980’s I read two books that gave me the keys to unlock this human predicament. “Education Begins Before Birth,” by the spiritual teacher Omraam Mikhael Aivanov, made complete sense to me when he said, “if we are to look after pregnant mothers, within 50 years we could close all of our hospitals and prisons.” Shortly after that, I read the groundbreaking scientific work by the Canadian Psychiatrist Dr Thomas Verny called, “The Secret Life of the Unborn Child.” This book clearly showed that the prenatal baby is a conscious sentient being having its own experience. This has completely changed our understanding of human development. I joined up with like-minded people to deepen this understanding and share it with both professionals and the public.
It is clear now that a baby's reactions to the world aren't by chance. For instance, some mothers think that they are “lucky” that their baby doesn't cry much or sleeps well. We know today that it isn't based on luck, it's cause and effect. If the baby feels safe, loved, wanted and his/her needs are met then the baby is content.
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