Pregnancy and Birth Are Not Just Moments - They Are Imprints

I recently received a message that deeply moved me. It opened with a question I often hear in my work:

“I didn’t know I could impact my baby’s emotional development so much… I’m 25 weeks now. What should I do?”
Or even more tenderly: “What about the birth that’s already happened?”

These questions linger in the heart.

Pregnancy and birth are not just moments in a woman’s life. They are imprints.

From the earliest stages of conception, the environment we create - physically, emotionally, and relationally - shapes the beginning of a human being. The womb is not only a biological space; it is a sensory, emotional, and energetic field where our children receive their first messages about life, love, safety, and connection.

What we experience during pregnancy - joy or fear, stress or support - becomes part of our baby’s first story. It shapes how their nervous system learns to respond to the world. The same is true for birth. Whether it’s an empowering experience or a challenging one, the way a baby is welcomed shapes not only how they arrive - but how they begin to belong.

And yet, this knowledge is still not widespread - especially in Western societies.

But here is what I want every mother to know:
Even if the birth didn’t go as planned...
Even if the pregnancy was filled with hardship or pain...
Even if you carry grief, confusion, or questions...

It is never too late.
Healing can still happen. Connection can still deepen. Patterns can be rewoven. We can still repair. Babies are forgivers. They are resilient. It’s in their nature.

Because our children are not only shaped by what happened “then” - they are shaped by what we do “now”. By the presence we offer. The love we give. The space we create for new beginnings.

This is why I believe so deeply in honoring the whole journey of becoming a mother and becoming a family - not just the outcome, but the process. Not just biology, but the bond. Not just birth, but the continuum of care that starts long before and continues long after.

As I often say: the body remembers - but so does the heart.
When we tend to the invisible imprints, we offer our children - and ourselves - a chance to grow from a more rooted, connected place.

AAs Dr. Zach Bush beautifully reminds us, the miracle of human life is not only in its biological complexity, but in its “unfolding intelligence”. He says that the birth of a child is the “greatest technology Earth has ever created” - a moment when cosmic design, light, and life converge. And in that light, there is also mystery. The mystery that even after disruption, there is possibility. That within life’s blueprint, there is always room for healing, for renewal, for restoration.

If this resonates with you, know that you are not alone.
You are walking the most sacred path of all - turning awareness into healing, and love into legacy. And that, truly, is the mystery of life.

About the Author
Susana Lopes is the Secretary-General of Prenatal Alliance, an advocate for World Pregnancy Day – March 22, a Prenatal and Postnatal Yoga Teacher, a Pilates Teacher, a Humanized Pregnancy and Birth Advocate, Speaker, and the author of “Yoga e Maternidade”. Her present work includes guiding women to effectively release stress and anxiety from their body and improve their overall health and connection with their baby.