The Child within relationship to meditation often replicates the foetus

The Child within relationship to meditation often replicates the foetus which is often considered to be like a preterm baby, like an unborn newborn. But this notion disregards the unique uterine environment: suspended in a warm and dark cave, connected to the placenta that pumps blood, nutrients and hormones into its growing body and brain, the foetus is asleep.

foetus is almost always in one of two sleep states. Called active and quiet sleep, these states can be distinguished using electroencephalography. Their different EEG signatures go hand in hand with distinct behaviours: breathing, swallowing, licking, and moving the eyes but no large-scale body movements in active sleep; no breathing, no eye movements and tonic muscle activity in quiet sleep. These stages correspond to rapid-eye-movement (REM) and slow-wave sleep common to all mammals. In late gestation the foetus is in one of these two sleep states 95 percent of the time, separated by brief transitions.






What is fascinating is the discovery that the foetus is actively sedated by the low oxygen pressure (equivalent to that at the top of Mount Everest), the warm and cushioned uterine environment.The role of the placenta in maintaining sedation is revealed when the umbilical cord is closed off while keeping the foetus adequately supplied with oxygen. The lamb embryo now moves and breathes continuously. From all this evidence, neonatologists conclude that the foetus is asleep while its brain matures.