TEN THOUSAND YEARS OF COLOSTRUM DEPRIVATION

What was the crucial event that led to our ancestors' domination of nature, around ten thousand years ago? Until then, living beings, including humans in the Palaeolithic eras, had made the most of what nature had to offer on a day-to-day basis.

In today's scientific context, the significant event that precipitated the 'Neolithic revolution' is not mysterious. Over the previous ten millennia, temperatures had risen enormously (by around 60 Celsius). The melting ice caused sea levels to rise by around 100 metres.

The useful question is: How did our ancestors adapt to this spectacular crisis in the history of “our” planet? This question is the key to analyse the vital turning point in the history of life we commonly call the “neolithic revolution”. From that time on, our ancestors behaved as if the function of Planet Earth was to satisfy the needs of Homo. They started to dominate Nature by domesticating plants and animals. The prerequisite for such new strategies for survival was to transform Homo and interfere with the development of the love/aggression axis. We understand today that the period around birth is critical from this point of view.

It is therefore notable that the socialisation of birth appears in retrospect as the key component of the domination of nature. The fetus ejection reflex was transformed into a “second stage of labour” with the need for voluntary expulsive movements and the interaction between mother and neonate was altered during the first seconds and minutes following birth, interfering with the release of what is supposed to be the highest possible peak of oxytocin a human being can release.

A delay in the initiation of breastfeeding and therefore a certain degree of mother-baby separation were justified by negative beliefs about colostrum. These beliefs lie at the root of the history of Homo's domination of nature. The common points between a great diversity of cultural milieus are striking.

These considerations take place at the dawn of a new phase in our understanding of brain functions. The powerful human neocortex can act in two opposite directions. It can be a tool. On the other hand, it can inhibit physiological functions (certain reflexes, sense of smell, childbirth, etc.). It should be underlined that socialisation usually stimulates neocortical activity. 

Can humanity survive socialised birth?

References:

-Odent M. Colostrum and Civilization. In: The Nature of Birth and Breastfeeding. Bergin & Garvey 1992.

-Odent M 1977. The early expression of the rooting reflex. London Academic Press 

-Odent M. The fetus ejection reflex. Birth 1987

-Odent M. Can Humanity survive socialised birth? Pinter & Martin 2023