Skip to main content
Ashley Makan

Ashley Makan

Executive Director of APPPAH (Association for Prenatal & Perinatal Psychology & Health), prenatal and perinatal educator, full-spectrum doula, and host of Demystifying Birth Psychology.

Sep 28, 2026

5:30
And your world really challenges that.
5:35
Yeah, I mean, to expand on what Wendy was saying, we're talking about essentially early human and nervous system development.
5:41
So what our mothers experience while we're in the womb, they are our first environment.
5:47
And when they're feeling happy and loved and all of those lovely oxytocin hormones, those are what's imprinting onto us that the world around us is safe.
5:57
And when they're feeling anxiety and fear, those are also imprints that are telling us what's going on in the world around us that we can't see quite yet.
6:05
So it's really interesting when you look into the actual framework of birth psychology, which is essentially four different pillars that we're pulling from.
6:15
This is a multidisciplinary science or a science that pulls from different arenas.

7 MINS LATER

13:14
Go to nurture-neuroscience.com slash pro dash certification or click the link below in the show notes.
4:35
What, why, why? Well,
4:37
first let's talk a little bit about what is birth psychology.
4:41
Prenatal and perinatal psychology is essentially a multidisciplinary study of the earliest human experience.
4:47
So from preconception through the first few years of life, and we're studying, um, attachment, epigenetics, uh, affect regulation and neuroscience all combined to see how we develop as humans.
5:02
And ultimately this like shows us how we will perceive life moving forward physically and emotionally, how we perceive the world around us and how we respond physically within our bodies.
5:14
Um, even down to our, uh, long-term illnesses as we get older, you know? So, um, It's something that really, truly applies to anyone who's ever been born, and it's why it's become my favorite subject.
5:28
But I never expected to be in this field.

26 MINS LATER

31:01
Yeah.

We value your privacy

We use cookies to understand how you use our platform and to improve your experience. Click “Accept All” to consent, or “Decline non-essential” to opt out of non-essential cookies. Read our Privacy Policy.