Womb Trauma-the lingering shadow that echoes across a lifetime

The womb is a sacred and powerful area in a female body. The sacral chakra is located in the womb area which can grow from the size of a pear to a watermelon during pregnancy. The womb is the centre of both birth and death. Energetically, our wombs help us shed toxins of our lives once a month in the form of menstruation.

From the Hindu Shakta Tantric perspective,feminity is the domain of goddess;the domain of power. Goddess Shakti was the one who needed to coax Lord Shiva,out of his grief meditation; to call him in his bodily pleasures so he could return to his work as the "God of Destruction". Goddess Shakti is pure creative energy that manifests,creates and activates.

So how does trauma get passed down to a fetus while being present in the mother's womb? Research states that early womb trauma gets encoded in the implicit memory of the fetus,located in the subcortical and deep limbic regions of the maturing brain. Paula Thompson wrote about Womb Trauma for Birth Psychology, that the limbic system,when interrupted during early development stages, can contribute to PTSD or mental health issues. These early experiences set the child's ongoing psychological regulatory baselines. In essence, the experiences create the child's ongoing course on how the body and minds will respond to the world when the child is born. As per PubMed Central (2007), research stated that the more oxytocin released during the first trimester,the more the bonding between the mother and the child after birth. Fast forward to 2020, a study found that growing babies can be impacted by a pregnant mother's mood changes that can cause trauma,furthermore, complications during pregnancy.

Womb trauma can be identified in both the genders in the form of various physical illness and discomfort. Some noticeable behavioural patterns that showcase womb trauma include:

#1 Increased fear and insecurity in all areas of life.

#2 Low self-esteem and jealousy.

#3 Isolation and detachment from society.

#4 Physical body symptoms can look like, back pain,constipation,urinary and kidney infections.

#5 Lack of creativity or lack of excitement in areas of life.

#6 Repetition of negative/abusive cycles in relationships.

So what really causes womb trauma in an unborn child? The umbilical cord is connected to the baby that provides vital nutrients from the mother's body to the baby's body. The umbilical cord starts to develop at about 4 weeks of pregnancy. It contains three blood vessels: one vein that carries nutrients and oxygen-rich blood from the carrier's circulatory system to the baby, and two arteries that deliver waste products and oxygen-depleted blood back to the womb. The carrier's kidneys process the baby’s wastes along with the mother for disposal and the lungs replenish the blood with oxygen. Now, trauma is translated into the utero when there is a chaotic environment or unpredictable lifestyle factors. My next segment discusses the few common causes of a Womb Trauma:

#1 Toxic or unwelcoming womb during pregnancy.

#2 Traumatic birthing experiences or pregnancy loss.

#3 Abandonment issues with parents or familial environment.

#4 Divorce/Abortion or attempt for abortion.

#5 Inability to express and encourage to hide abuse,mental illness or addiction.

Thus,healing the womb traumas are essential to break the patterns by arriving into consciousness with our womb is done through meditation, healing breathwork and movement, massage and, in essence, energy work. There are many powerful yogic methods to heal and transform our sacred womb.