Haptonomy - Doctrine of Touch

Feeling deeply connected and learning about your baby in your womb.

 Haptonomy - What does it mean?

The best way I can describe it, is to take you along in my mind to a journey towards my own pregnancies.

My pregnancy Journey with Felix

I loved being pregnant and enjoyed every movement in my belly.
Our second child was a long-awaited child - our miracle. During this pregnancy I concentrated very much on the little being inside me and perceived it particularly intensely.

Felix responded differenty to my moods and to his father & sister

I noticed that Felix's movements were more than muscular reactions and a gulp. He was reacting to me. There was a silken bond between us, we were a team. When I was happy and told him what was so great, he reacted in a special way. He let me know through his movements that he understood me. When I was stressed, he reacted differently.
My husband could also "talk" to him with specific movements. He knew both of us and his sister and he responded to us. He was an integral part of the family even before he was born.
I got into the habit of discussing everything with him. That we would go to the gynaecologist, that we would go to the hospital.

The Doctrine of touch

At that time I didn't know the term haptonomy.
Only later I realised that it was haptonomy (Greek for "teaching of touch") which I had done instinctively. It is a method for helping and accompanying births and was developed in the 1940s by the Dutchman Frans Veldman and is now mainly used in France.

Connecting with your baby

During pregnancy and birth support, the aim is to establish contact with the child already in the mother's womb through gentle touch & connection.
Such an approach promotes the development of the bond between the baby and the parents. In this way, the parents learn to let go and grow into  a team.
This is important during birth and one of the main points to experience a positive birth experience.

I would briefly describe haptonomy as follows: Bonding in the womb. The growing together and bonding between parents and child - enjoying and allowing the miracle of life - opening up for a new stage of life.

Interested in learning more about Haptonomy?

If you are interested in haptonomy, we are incorporating this special way of talking to your child to some extent in our courses (birth preparation and pregnancy yoga).

An individual course in haptonomy is available in German with our partner Cornelia Gandowitz. 
Here you can learn as a couple in 5-7 appointments to get in contact with your child and have a new pregnancy experience.
Cornelia, an experienced midwife, also offers other courses such as hypnobirthing and talk after a traumatic birth. Just have a look at her homepage. The courses she offers are only in German.

January 2021 - Dr. Christine Krämer, Gravidamiga
This blog post has been prepared with the greatest possible care and does not claim to be correct, complete or up-to-date.“ Picture credit: Adobe Stock licensed

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