“The greatness of the human personality begins at the hour of birth.” Maria Montessori (1870-1952)

The Basic Needs of Babies online course and workshop is designed for parents-to-be and for parents, for curious grandparents, and educators, for health care workers and for midwives, doulas and birth attendants. 

​The intention of this offering is to explore the basic needs of newborns. When a baby elephant is born the entire herd slows down to the pace of the baby elephant. As the baby learns to walk the herd will slowly pick up the pace alongside the baby until the baby is able to match the pace of the adults.

This course is an opportunity to slow down, become more attuned with ourselves and as a result become more aligned with the basic needs of the newborn. 

• What do we need to know about the newborn child?

• Why should we protect babies?

• What is the ‘cosmic task’ of the youngest humans?

• What are their basic needs?

"The first hour of education is the hour after birth. From the moment the senses of the newborn child begin to receive impressions from nature, nature educates them. It takes great strength to be able to wait patiently for them to mature.”  Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi (1746-1827)

There are two options for this 6 month course:

1. Those who choose the 6 month online course self study will learn at their own pace in the prepared environment for adults. This environment continues to grow as a new module is released every three weeks. The last month of this course is purely for continued exploration in the prepared environment. This option is available for you to begin at any time and does NOT follow the workshop schedule below.

2. Those who take both the 6 month online course + 9 workshops will be attending live video workshop sessions which are limited to 20 participants. The workshop follows the same online content, format and materials as the course description given above. In the one hour and a half workshop sessions participants will be learning more deeply about the environment inside themselves that promotes observation and sharing, listening and thinking. 

FIRST WORKSHOP: 17 September 2024

LAST WORKSHOP: 15 April 2025 

7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. South African Standard Time (SAST)

workshop dates

17 September, 2024: Introduction and Orientation 

1 October: The Spiritual Embryo

22 October: Preparing the Observation Environment

19 November: Pioneers in Birth and Birthing

10 December: The Basic Needs of a Mother and Newborn

14 January: Newborn Behavioral Observation

4 February: The Neuroscience of Connection

25 February: Final Projects: Planning

​15 April - 2 hour session: Presentation of the Final Projects

Closing of the Environment 15 April, 2025

​The Basic Needs of Babies: Learning to listen to newborns​

In this course and workshop we will explore what the pioneers of birth and birthing have taught us, starting with Maria Montessori. What are the basic needs of a woman during pregnancy, labor, birth and the postpartum period, and what does the latest science say about it? We will delve deep into the sensitivity of babies at the beginning of life, looking at this second embryonic stage and exploring why it needs a womb. We look at how the newborn develops the ability to process stimuli (sensorial learning) and how a newborn communicates (language development) using behaviors, investigating neuro co-regulation and why it is critical in developing self-regulation (basic trust, autonomy and independence).

Our world is facing a developmental crisis that affects all of humanity. Not only is our home, the Earth, at risk but humans too are at risk. They are at risk of suffering from the effects of developmental issues of today. Changing how we treat pregnant women, newborns our families is so important. We have to develop a capacity to listen to them and offer support based on the biological laws of development. This is what Maria Montessori taught: how to study the needs of children and respond to these needs in a scientific way. We do this first by promoting the feeling of safety for mothers and newborns and also by helping them overcome fears, when they arise. We can no longer care for birth and the beginning of life with the methods of the past, ones that cause reactions of fear and anxiety in the most sensitive people. 

It is of vital importance for the future of society to respect the basic needs of babies.

The first topic- the spiritual embryo is about Maria Montessori and how she regarded the development of the spiritual embryo as the most significant phase of a person’s whole life. Anyone who comes into contact with the newborn and the child in the early years might be seen as being part of the “womb” that holds this embryo because of being in his or her environment. This means that those who touch the life of the smallest children have a great responsibility for their development.

The second topic - preparing the observation environment is about how we can create 'a sense of place and belonging'. How do we enter a new experience, how do we receive others? How do we connect, crossing over a bridge to meet them where they are, and how do we offer ourselves as an observation environment? How can we witness feelings and thoughts? What does it mean to hold space, coming from the heart and how do we prepare ourselves for that? The themes are: connection, authentic relationships and being truly present for others: a pregnant mother-to-be, a newborn just coming into the world, a new father, but in reality, for anyone, including the relationship to oneself. How do we listen with all of our senses?

The third topic - pioneers of birth and birthing is about weaving together the lifework of pioneers in the field. Maria Montessori (1870-1952), Adele Costa Gnocchi (1883-1967), Frederik Leboyer (1918-2017), Michel Odent (b. 1930), Nils Bergman (b. 1955). What do these pioneers on birth say about what makes a positive experience for mothers and babies, and for society? What are their stories, backgrounds, and legacies?

The fourth topic- the basic needs of a woman in labor and a newborn is about what newborns and their mothers need. Montessori was talking about this as early as 1923. She described the environment in which mammals in nature give birth and how instincts guide a mother to protect her child from early experiences that could be harmful by remaining isolated and protected for both the birth and for a period of time after before rejoining the group. Today, Michel Odent talks about how important it is for humans to remember that we are mammals. He packs his arguments with science but also his own experience of more than 60 years working with birth.

The fifth topic- Newborn Behavioral Observations is about looking at Berry Brazelton’s legacy as a pediatrician: his Newborn Behavioral Assessment Scale (NBAS) for medical practitioners and the simplified version of Newborn Behavioral Observations (NBO) for professionals who work with new parents. “A baby’s behavior is his language ... and you can trust that language” means that becoming fluent in the language of behavior, gestures, movements (not just the different cries) allows us to understand the earliest non-verbal communications.

The sixth topic- the neuroscience of connection is about looking at the science of attachment. Attachment to life is what we hope for each person and the power of connection is the force behind it. Birth trauma, separation trauma, medicalization trauma, and insecure attachment trauma... all of these can be overcome and healed. This may be the first step in ‘normalization’ - feeling loved and finding secure attachment. Neuroscience and attachment theory can now explain what happens in the brain as it develops, and what is needed for the child to develop secure attachment to mother, to family, and to life.

The final project -  The final project: planning -  How might you imagine culminating the work we have done over the last months and germinate an idea that can be taken out into the world? This workshop gives us a chance to think about this question, hear others' ideas and allow for things to shift and come into focus as we think about our ideas in a Thinking Environment.

Presentation of final projects -  Five weeks later we will come back together to share the fruits of our ideas. We say goodbye and the environment closes.