Understanding our earliest relationship experiences from the baby’s point of view and how these experiences set in motion life patterns has been the intense study of the field of prenatal and perinatal psychology for over 40 years. The field uses this lens to focus on our earliest human experience from preconception through baby’s first postnatal year and its role in creating children who thrive and become resilient, loving adults.
Leading-edge prenatal and perinatal psychology-oriented therapists collaborated with the primary authors in an academic community grant project funded by the Bower Foundation to create the 12 Guiding Principles.
The 12 principles are offered as a beacon to help guide parenting practice, professional practice, theory and research and to support human potential and optimal relationships from the beginning of life. These principles lay the foundation for a new movement in welcoming and caring for our babies. Everyone has a part to play.
