Pre-Parenting: Nurturing Your Child from Conception (paperback)

Tomorrow’s Baby: The Art and Science of Parenting from Conception Through Infancy (hardcover)

By Thomas R. Verny and Pamela Weintraub

Format: Paperback, 336pp ISBN: 0671775243 Pub. Date: September 2003 Simon & Schuster Adult Publishing Group Format: Hardcover Click here to look inside.

FROM THE PUBLISHER How does a mother's tone of voice affect her unborn child? What kind of music, if any, should a child be exposed to in the womb? Can parents influence the predispositions of their child to traits like depression, or something as elusive as basic goodness? Thanks to revolutionary discoveries in neuroscience and developmental psychology in recent years, says Dr. Thomas Verny, we now know more about these questions than ever. In Pre-Parenting, Dr. Verny translates this research into practical advice for parents and parents-to-be. Pre-Parenting explains how even the most ordinary events can evoke a cascade of biological changes in a baby -- not only in the brain but also in the immune system and throughout the body. Every experience, from a baby's trip down the birth canal to the way she is held or spoken to, can shape her health and personality. An internationally recognized expert in early human development, Dr. Verny shows parents how to use this new information to create an ideal environment for their babies, enhance their babies' intelligence and social skills, and become better parents through "conscious parenting." Insightful and encouraging, Pre-Parenting is an invaluable guide for parents who want to help actualize their child's full potential, beginning with conception.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Verny (The Secret Life of the Unborn Child), a psychiatrist and founder of the Prenatal and Perinatal Psychology Association of America, firmly believes that the development of the embryo and fetus, particularly the brain, is affected by a variety of external factors including nutrition, stress, medication and exercise. Stimulation such as playing music for unborn children is less important, according to Verny, than the emotional state of the mother. "The prenatal classroom is better suited for lessons of intimacy, love, and trust than for intellectual calisthenics or IQ boosting." He is particularly concerned with pregnant women who are uneasy with impending parenthood, and cites much scientific evidence showing how prenatal maternal stress negatively effects the baby's physical development. Likewise, he shows how parental behavior and mood in general have a direct impact on their children. However, readers looking for practical parenting tools may be frustrated; much of his advice is very broad (he urges women to find emotional support during pregnancy, for instance), and parents will probably find it quite difficult to work out anxiety-provoking internal conflicts and eliminate stressors without more concrete and perhaps professional guidance. Yet while the book falls somewhat short as a hands-on guide, Verny's thought-provoking and impassioned arguments and his engrossing descriptions of the infant's internal world will likely raise awareness of how parents' emotional lives affect their developing baby.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
A psychiatrist and founder of the Prenatal and Perinatal Psychology Association of North America, Verny studies prenatal and infant brain development. Using the neuroscience angle to promote a New Age concept of the mind-body connection, he states that a child's brain interacts with his or her environment from the moment of conception. Since both genetics and experience shape personality, the nature/nurture dichotomy, he argues, does not exist. Although his basic explanation of current neuroscience, the mind-body connection, and its influence on child development will be of interest to parents and childcare professionals, his parenting advice is nothing new: interact with the child during pregnancy and infancy, avoid stress, take prenatal classes, have a natural childbirth, avoid physically or emotionally abusing the child, and maintain a stable, loving family. The American Medical Association Complete Guide to Your Children's Health (Random, 1999) or T. Berry Brazelton's Touchpoints (LJ 11/1/92) provide more comprehensive and practical information for parents. Recommended for public libraries where there is interest in New Age parenting material. Barbara M. Bibel, Oakland P.L.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Verny, a psychiatrist and author of The Secret Life of the Unborn Child (1981), bridges the gap in the nature-versus-nurture debate and challenges the theories of Freud and Piaget, who discounted cognition in children under three years old. He cites evidence that unborn children "record and react to events" on a cellular level, developing "cellular memories" that remain with them throughout their lives. A mother's stress, anxiety, and depression during pregnancy can have a lifelong impact on a child's development, nearly as much as factors such as drug and alcohol abuse. Verny notes research indicating that stress in the mother can affect how a child's brain develops, possibly leading to mental, emotional, and behavioral disorders. Verny advocates that parents should take advantage of what research has shown is a series of learning windows that open during the early years and provide rich opportunities to nurture a child's brain. Although his book is heavy on scientific research and terminology, Verny includes interesting case studies and writes in an accessible, compelling manner. Vanessa Bush
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review
Publishers Weekly Verny's...engrossing descriptions of the infant's internal world...will likely raise awareness of how parents' emotional lives affect their developing baby.

About the Author
Thomas R. Verny, M.D., is the world's leading expert on the effects of the prenatal and early post-natal environment on personality development. He is the author of the international bestseller The Secret Life of the Unborn Child (with John Kelly). He is a psychiatrist and founder of the Prenatal and Perinatal Psychology Association of North America (now known as the Association for Prenatal and Perinatal Psychology and Health, or APPPAH). Dr. Verny is an adjunct professor of Prenatal and Perinatal Development at St. Mary's University, Minneapolis, Minnesota, and a senior faculty member at the Santa Barbara Graduate Institute in California. He lives in Toronto, Canada.

Product Description:

In recent years, revolutionary discoveries in neuroscience and developmental psychology have transformed our understanding of infant development. We now know that starting from conception, the infant brain is wired by the environment. Everything that the infant experiences in his mother's womb and after birth leaves a permanent imprint on his brain.

This book explains how even the most ordinary events, such as the words a mother speaks to her unborn son or the way a father holds his newborn daughter, evoke a cascade of biological changes -- not only in the brain but also in the immune system and throughout the body. Every experience, from her trip down the birth canal to an afternoon in the park, shapes the health and personality of the child. Whether we intend it or not, everything we say and do teaches the infant a secret lesson about herself and us, her parents.

Tomorrow's Baby translates these scientific insights into practical advice for parents and parents-to-be. An internationally acknowledged expert in early human development, Dr. Thomas Verny draws on his knowledge of the latest scientific research to explain how, with planning and proper support, parents can create an ideal environment for their babies. Dr. Verny advocates "conscious parenting," which begins with the parent's or caregiver's informed acceptance of the enormous challenge of raising and nurturing a child. He offers a wealth of practical suggestions, from optimal prenatal communication to enhancing infants' empathic abilities, as well as advice for building language acquisition, enhancing intelligence, and developing other social skills. Now, for the first time, parents can learn how to help actualize their child's full potential, beginning with conception.