by Thomas Verny
Here\’s another book I read way back when, about pregnancy. The Secret Life of the Unborn Child was written back when people were just beginning to question the routine use of technology in childbirth, and delves into ideas about how things experienced by the baby before or during birth, can affect it (positively or adversely) for life. It was really interesting to read about how the baby develops and all the things infants can sense while in the womb (light, sounds, etc). I think it\’s amazing that unborn babies can learn to recognize their parents\’ voices, or even certain melodies. I\’m not sure if that means they can actually form memories while in the womb, like Verny claims. And other of his theories about how children can be emotionally scarred by medical interventions seemed rather far-fetched. I found the book to be both very intriguing, and worth of skepticism. I\’m pretty sure many of the ideas in it have been further studied nowdays, so if you open its pages, read with a heavy dose of salt (and wonder).
Rating: 3/5 256 pages, 1982