When I read the news in recent years, I am saddened by photos of children harmed by war and conflict. I am saddened to see children living amongst ruins and bombing and I am sure that all hope that all this bloodshed will be over soon no matter which side or who it is. Not for one more second should any child be subjected to such cruelty.
I am confident that justice will triumph and all this will soon be over. But what’s next? Is concrete, brick and mortar suffice to rebuild a better world? What can we do to help a nation stand up and get back to its former glory? Is money and technology enough?
In China, we have an old saying as follows:
“A person is the nucleus of a family and families make up a state and states make up a nation.”
To best help a nation torn by war is to help its families and individuals get back to normal life where daily living will be safe, productive and rewarding. To this end, we need to help individuals maintain a healthy body and healthy mind.
We often say that “Rome was not built in a day”, but modern bombshells can destroy a city like Rome within minutes and it will take efforts from all sides and decades to rebuild.
To rebuild a city back to its former glory, we need people and we need families with members who are smarter and efficient than those in the past. To this end, prenatal education plays an important role.
With the womb being the classroom and pregnant mothers being the first teacher and the curriculum being delivered by the mother herself, it costs nothing but awareness, time and persistence.
I have worked on the subject of prenatal education for the past 20 years. Only the youngest of my three sons had the opportunity of going through a US developed prenatal education program which was developed in around 1990.
As a trained lawyer, I was skeptical and thought that prenatal education was nothing more than an urban legend that refused to go away. It was not until I dug further that I found documents relating to the benefits of prenatal education dating back 3000 years ago. The imperial court of the Zhou Dynasty recorded the benefits of prenatal education performed by the queen mother and passed on the wisdom in writing. In China, prenatal education was a promoted subject at late as the Qing Dynasty when the infamous scholar Liang Qi Chao wrote to the imperial court and suggested that a specialized unit to promote prenatal education be established to improve the overall quality of the population. This suggestion vanished together with the demise of the Qing Dynasty.
In around 1990, scholars, medical experts and developmental psychologists gathered and conducted double blind tests and clinical studies on the subject and discovered measurable benefits when a pregnant mother give prenatal education to the unborn fetus from week 18 of pregnancy. The methods have proven safe and effective.
When I heard about prenatal education, starting from US, it has already been performed in many countries for more than ten years and the Chinese had already promoted it for more than 3000 years.
What and why?
Babies grow inside the mother’s womb with more brain cells that they need and during the course of pregnancy, there will be a pruning process where those unused or unconnected withers. Prenatal education is a curriculum and process that helps a baby connect as many brain cells as possible through stimulation. With safe stimulation, more synaptic connection will bond brain cells together and this enhanced neurological architecture will fundamentally improve the performance of the brain of a newborn with measurable benefits. No one wins at the starting line but a good start helps athletes to get ahead.
Where?
Prenatal classroom is mobile and the pregnant mother carries it around with her all the time. In its most basic and affordable form, no gadgets, electronics are required, so in theory, the poorest of all in all countries can do it.
Who?
The mother is the teacher for sure as vibrations in her vocal cords is the most direct and earth breaking sound to the unborn child. Father and all others can make themselves useful as logistical and moral support 24 x 7 to ensure that the pregnant mother receives the best care to maintain emotional stability and her needs addressed.
When?
Similar to kindergarten, primary, secondary and tertiary education. prenatal education needs a syllabus and a timetable for learning, playing, recess and meals. The ancient Chinese suggests that pregnant mothers start once they know they are pregnant. The modern methods suggest that mothers should start from 18th weeks into pregnancy as hearing ability of a fetus matures around that time and it is medically confirmed that a fetus has memory around that time too.
How?
Ancient Chinese suggested that the mind of the mother is attached to the fetus. This notion is explained from the fact that neurochemical produced in the mother’s brain when she experiences emotional changes will also affect the baby inside the womb. This is the basic reason why we ask modern mothers to refrain from smoking or drugs. The fetus feels what the mother feels and consumers what is ingested by the mother throughout pregnancy and beyond. Chinese people perform prenatal education through good deeds, positive thoughts, good words, meditation and nourishing food. The western method of prenatal education focuses on delivering a series of sounds into the womb between 18-40 weeks to enhance the auditory experience of the fetus and thus builds a stronger neurological network.
Conclusion
I was born and lived in Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China (“HKSAR”) and the HKSAR is infamous for fusion of thoughts, methods and many things from both the east and west. My suggestion is to fuse the methods to attain the best results.
Elon Musk and many scientists are studying the benefits if putting a USB in the back of our head to enhance the performance of the human brain. All this is a theory that needs to be tested over decades. Why not resort to proven knowledge and wisdom and promote prenatal education which has same results but cheaper and safer. Afterall, who wants another advancement in technology which only the resourceful can afford? Why not allow every mother in the world give their child the most precious gift of a “More Beautiful Mind”?
Thoams Ho Kwong Hung is the Consultant of the Belt and Road Initiative for Sustainable Development – BRISD in prenatal and elite education lives in the Greater Bay of Guangdong, China. His mission is to promote elite education that is affordable so the world may enjoy the benefits of a new generation that is smart, efficient and compassionate.
