Why a biological space is important for both mother and child
Preparing your space for pregnancy, birth, and beyond
updated 21 August 2024
Why do both mother and baby need a biological space in the home and birth space? What is a “biological space”? Find out the benefits, and the stark truths, of a biologically supportive space.
Congratulations on your new journey into parenthood!
Any mum or dad to be knows there’s a sense of change in the air; you just know that there are new adventures and discoveries your little one will bring into your lives.
Mums and dads, you also already EXPECT to make changes literally on the home front as you go about baby-proofing your home. A space that provides the best chances for a happy, healthy developmental years (that is, their childhood and your motherhood and fatherhood, by the way) however, is one that is biologically supportive of your personal needs and goals.
Mothers Are Preparing for the Marathon Role of a Lifetime
Mothers in particular have a lot on their hands, not least preparing their body for labour and the intense first years.
Much of the focus is around the physical, mental, and emotional changes and challenges mothers can expect, and the whole development of the baby to look forward to. Less attention is paid to the factors in our personal spaces that can help or impede the desires and goals we have for a healthy mother and child, as well as the sort of nurturing spaces we want to set up for optimal health.
What Is a Biological Space?
The home is a dynamic mediator against external influences, and with its occupants, as a relationship. It takes the natural environment as the gold standard against which indoor environmental quality should be measured.
A biological space is one that is respectful and supportive of the biological needs of the people living in it.
Think of the exterior wall as a third skin. Natural organic materials such as cotton, linen, and wool clothing, our second skin, create a more comfortable “biological interface” than most synthetic fabrics because they are breathable and don’t create static electricity.
We consider factors that are not only aesthetic, but also environmental, including: artificial electromagnetic fields from electronics and devices, temperature and humidity regulation, dust, noise, and it uses light and color as is found in nature.
The result is a place where wellness is far more than an absence of disease, and where a space is more than an environment free of toxins. It is a home that truly nurtures health.
The practice of biological buildings is not a trend. Instead, it is a time-honoured consideration of our homes as the most personal space for rest and restoration. Likewise, the home is also a primal space to nurture and grow life.
While everyone has diverse tastes and preferences, biological spaces always consider Nature as a good standard.
Why choose a biological space? What are the benefits?
While we pay a lot of attention to our diet, exercise routines and wellness supplements, too often the very space we spend our time working, living, and sleeping is neglected. There are few resources to assist mums and dads in achieving this goal of a biological space.
A mother-to-be has her plate full when she’s pregnant—and overhauling a space (including every item in every drawer) may not be the first thing on her mind.
Renovation and home do-overs may be discouraged—ironically for the same health considerations! We want to mum and baby from exposure to toxic elements.
But we also FEEL THE URGE TO NEST.
The nesting instinct is REAL!
That was my experience when I was pregnant with Lil S. I was continually ill throughout the nine months and struggled to make a comfortable space at home, or anywhere really. When she raised the option of a water birth (which I wanted) at home (a rare option to be able to choose this at the time), I remember resolutely saying an absolute No. I was battling emerging sensitivities as well as plenty of dust bunnies; I did NOT feel I could be comfortable and relaxed at home.
I believe this is a primal instinct of any new mom and dad to canvas their environment for beneficial elements that will support the baby and mother during this vulnerable time. It is also to shore up resources for a rapid phase of growth, development, and relationship together.
Thus, I bit the building biology bullet shortly after Lil S was born. With my second child, the opposite was true. I gained so much strength and support from my everyday spaces that it actually enhanced my labour beyond what I'd imagined!
How a Biological Space Is the Safest, Healthiest Space
A safe and satisfying birth and post partum experience depends, in part, on the level of stress experienced by the mum. When a space is designed to feel safe and calming, and is free of toxins and pollutants, that these are associated with reduced intervention rates, good health outcomes, and positive birthing experiences for women.
These amazing benefits have far-reaching consequences for mother and child.
Helps prepare for a natural labour and birth
Whatever the birth choice and outcome, creating a space that supports biological birth can help the mother prepare for labour and reduce birth trauma. Light, noise, uncomfortable and/or disruptive environmental elements can raise anxiety. This can interrupt the delicate neuro-hormonal influences that drive labour and birth, making intervention more likely.
In birth, a more primal mammalian brain must take precedence over the neocortex, or rational, brain. We know an atmosphere of quiet and privacy with, for example, dim lighting and little conversation, and no expectation of rationality from the laboring woman.
Mothers recover much better, faster
Birthing puts mothers (and their babies) through a hormonal orchestra, and the postpartum period involves the mother progressing through many changes, both emotionally and physically. Taking care of how the space is set up helps mother rebuild her strength.
A well-set up sleep sanctuary helps mothers get the deepest, recuperative sleep in the little time she has.
Removes EMF pollutants from the baby’s vulnerable first years
Wireless baby monitors and other electronic devices are part of everyday environment. But they are also an invisible environmental toxin that is linked to health effects including neurological harm. Their brains and bodies are still developing and absorb more radiation than adults.
Child numbers with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) and population exposure to microwave irradiation have risen in parallel. Research suggests that fetal/neonatal microwave exposure might predispose to later ASD development. More about EMR and health effects on children here.
Reduces overall chemical exposure to baby
300 (and counting) contaminants, such as industrial chemicals, consumer product ingredients, pesticides and pollutants from burning fossil fuels, have been in the umbilical cord blood of newborn babies. Only recently they have been found to cross the once-thought impenentrable placental barrier.
As mothers, we are our babies’ first environment. The air we breathe, the food we eat, the water we drink, and the products that we put on our skin form part of the building blocks that babies use to develop and grow. Opting for no or low tox options reduces our body burden and what we pass on to our children.
Improves breastfeeding outcomes
Breastfeeding is tremendous effort,, especially physically. It is hormone regulated, which is highly dependent on a biologically appropriate light environment. With a comfortable space to support a tired mother for hours of often stationary breastfeeding, mothers will be better able to carry out the task under everyday stresses and routines.
Oxytocin mediates the let-down reflex and is released in pulses as the baby suckles. During the months and years of lactation, oxytocin continues to act to keep the mother relaxed and well nourished. Oxytocin expert and researcher Professor Kerstin Uvnas Moberg: “a very efficient anti-stress system, which prevents a lot of disease later on.”^3^ In her study, mothers who breastfed for more than seven weeks were calmer, when their babies were six months old, than mothers who did not breastfeed.
Sets up healthy habits for the child
Taking the time to set up your space right can help the child learn about their environment. It also averts many of the parent-child battles down the road around trigger issues including screentime use, adequate movement, proper sleep and feeding habits, etc. EMR harm from wireless devices is one easy fix. Take my hardwired challenge.
Are Biological Spaces Really Worth the Effort?
Think of all the time and money you spend on your food, exercise, wellness routines. You may be struggling or you may have your routines down pat, but without a biologically safe and supportive environment, all your efforts are on an uphill.
If not on a slippery down slope.
In most cases, poor health, growth and development comes from your own personal environment.
For example, women are perfectly capable of giving birth to a healthy baby without any interventions. Birth is a normal biological function, not a medical event. Though we are incredibly lucky to have interventions if they are necessary, we sometimes lose sight of the fact that birth normally happens on its own.
Your Space Shapes Your Life
Parenting is a learning curve – full of highs and lows. But you are more than capable. Especially if you make a home that supports and nourishes you.
Modern living and environmental stresses can increase and morph as various technologies take hold. But we can navigate them when we make the fundamental pillars of life core values in creating our own space at space.
Just because many toxins, stresses, and pollutants are invisible, it does not they’re any less important. Or that we can take our current good health for granted.
Set up your best biological space now. This safeguards your wellbeing and those of your loved ones for many, many years to come.
To your space,
Mel
Check out the many FREE resources on how you can create your own biological space now:
EMFs can make or break your safe and calm space. What Are EMFs? 7 Things You Need to Know as a Mother
Read more pregnancy posts here.
Do you want to assess your home and create a better space now? I can help you with my Better Spaces Program for Mother and Child.