Do babies remember being born?

It is generally accepted that no-one can recall their birth. Most people generally do not remember anything before the age of three, although some theorists (e.g. Usher and Neisser, 1993) argue that adults can remember important events - such as the birth of a sibling - when they occurred as early as the age of two.

theguardian.com - Is it possible to remember being born? | Notes and Queries

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THE BODY BEAUTIFUL

Is it possible to remember being born? Possibly, but most people don't know they're born. Fiona Sampson, London Yes, but not if you have too much to drink. Ian Osborne, Horsford, Norfolk Ray Bradbury (the sci-fi author) claimed he could remember every detail of being born, from his head being crushed to suddenly being surrounded by bright lights. Liz Piggott The hippocampus is a brain structure thought to be crucially involved in the formation of memory for facts and events. At birth and in early childhood this structure is not fully grown, and so memory of birth is unlikely. What's interesting is that the brain structure for emotional memory, the amygdala, is mature in infancy - the outcome of these two facts being that an emotionally significant event during infancy may affect the way a child behaves later in life despite them not being able to remember the actual event. David Sant, Oxford It is generally accepted that no-one can recall their birth. Most people generally do not remember anything before the age of three, although some theorists (e.g. Usher and Neisser, 1993) argue that adults can remember important events - such as the birth of a sibling - when they occurred as early as the age of two. This is not to suggest that children cannot remember anything before this age. Even newborn infants can remember simple colour and shape combinations for a 24 hour period, with the sophistication and duration of recall increasing with age, such that by the age of two children can remember events which happened to them 12 months earlier. Such memories, however, would undoubtedly not be recalled in later life. Explanations for these findings centre on the development of the hippocampus, and cognitive structures necessary for true autobiographical memory. John Dent, Middlesbrough, UK I can't remember being born, but I can clearly remember, both visually and aurally, things from being about 2 months old. I can even 'smell' the lining of my pram, and I could take you round a house we left when I was 3 months old and to which I have never returned. Last week or yesterday, however - you've got me there ... Prof. Feliz Forde-Bennett, Kuala Lumpur Malaysia Although I have ben told it is impossible to recall your early childhood, I for a fact can recall with some vivdness, events that took place when I was only 4 or 5 months old. I don't have a memory of every day, but when describing events to my parents we calculated they had taken place when I was only 4 or 5 months old. Terence Druffield, Harrogate Spa Our first child spooked us when he was small, by telling us the first thing he remembered was a white window opening and a man reaching for him. He was born by Caesarian, unknown to him at the time. Mike Whittaker, Peplow My daughter, at the age of nine months, heard a woman giving birth during a program on TV. She held onto her ears with a look of great alarm, and tried to hold her breath. I am convinced she had a memory of birth at that moment. John Bramwells, Peterborough UK I have not read the book myself, but I do remember reading in the Guardian some decade or so back that the first 11 pages of Salvador Dali's autobiography were devoted to his memories of what is was like to be in the womb before he was born. Colin Boyd, Saskatoon Canada My son, who is now 6 has been able to describe events in detail about his 'In utero' experience since he could first speak (roughly 2 1/2). Tom Smith, Market Harborough England When my daughter was 3 1/2 I asked her if she liked being in my womb. She said... Yes, at first she could move around but then she couldn't and she was ready to come out. I then asked her if she could remember being born. She said yes, and she descibed the room and the events that took place, (she was born at home, We moved when she was 2 yrs) The next year I asked her again and she had no memory of it and did not remember telling me the story. I am glad I wrote it down earlier. After our move she would remember smells from the old house when she came upon something, Today smells will still trigger old home memories. I call it her memory #1 and memory #2, I think those early years are so full of stuggles of growing and dependence we want to forget it. Who wants to remember wet diapers?! Joyce, Calif USA Whilst stuggling to get my daughter, aged about 2, into a tight polo necked jumper, she suddenly said "it's like being borned". jane, Edinburgh UK After reading some of these answers, I asked my son Alfie aged 3 if he could remember being inside mummy's tummy. He sadi 'Yeah', so I asked him what it was like. He said 'soft' and 'dark' and then when asked what it looked like he said 'shiny' (odd answer? not if you've ever seen a placenta). I asked him if he could remember coming out and he said 'yes, it hurt me.' Can't wait until my little girl has the vocabulary to tell me what she thought! Jo Walker, Canterbury UK would we really want to remember? SJ, Glasgow Scotland Surely memory is linked to speech. If we have the ability to put something into words then we have the ability to store it and recall it. Isn't it likely that memory starts when language (that is understanding basic language, not necessarily speaking) is learned, making recollection of birth unlikely? VC, Kent, UK It gave me great comfort reading this, as nobody wants to believe me when I tell them I remember events that took place early in my life (moving house at 11 months, my first birthday, my mother being pregnant and giving birth to my brother when I was 20 months old). I am very grateful to my parents, who spoke to me like I was "a real person" (which I obviously was) since I was a new-born. This gave me a language and a vocabulary before I could speak, and must have improved my ability to remember. Klara S., Bergen Norway I remember being born. I tried for a moment to tell the people who were around me that WE FORGET! This is because the moment I was born, I watched the memory of where I had been before birth leave me. Mark, I don't remember being born, but do remember rooms and corners of where I lived before the age of one. I also remeember, aged 18 months, meeting my newborn brother from hospital in the back of a dark car in the rain. I gave him grapes somehow. Damn I wanted those grapes! A friend of mine lived in Germany until the age of 8 and doesn't remember anything whatsoever of it, but then she can organise her life much better than me. Jonno, London, UK My son, aged two and a half to three, would often talk of the time before he was born saying how he and his friend Joe had fought together in the wars. I asked him where they had fought and he said it was in the skies before he was ever born. He was very matter of fact about it all. He would sometimes become annoyed when I confessed I couldn't see his friend Joe, who apparently had a favourite corner in the sitting room where he liked to sit. My son would go to this corner and have conversations with Joe, sometimes requesting a drink or some food for him. (When given, never consumed because, "Joe didn't realy feel like having it.") I found it all very disturbing and was glad when Joe finally seemed to slip out of the way. Very soon after that time, my son quickly forgot all about Joe. Sheila Kirby, Esbjerg Denmark I don't remember being born but am sure the memory could be remembered through regression therapy/hypnosis. I do remember being two years old, the neighborhood I lived in, walking down the street with my brother and stopping at a neighbour's house for cookies and milk. It was three doors down from our house. Then my brother and I would walk through the back alley and down to an old barn that had an old washing machine in it and we'd pretend to do laundry. I was two and he was 4 1/2. I always wondered, where was my mother... Katherine Connors, Columbia, Maryland USA I have three early memories. The first is strange and quite inexplicable. All three are in the order they occurred. I remember floating through the hospital window and seeing my mother lying in a bed while holding a baby. My father and brothers were standing around the bed. The second is of looking over the left shoulder of my mother as we drove away from the hospital. This was not a health-nurse visit. The third was of being breast fed. I hopped off the boob and turned around to see "The Love Boat" on TV. My mum stopped breastfeeding me by 9 months. Steve Bergen, Frankston, Australia I had a strange experience recently. I was being audited in an organisation called Dianetics. This involved a person sitting opposite me and asking me to recall different events. I was genuinely surprised when I was able to give accounts on two occasions where I was observing my birth and hearing the conversation and seeing my mother and father as they were at that time. I have to state that I am the world's greatest sceptic and still am but I can't deny what happened.I'm also 67 years old. Samuel Brown, Belfast, United Kingdom When i was born,i was so traumatised that i couldn't speak for two years. Rory Moylan, Manchester, England I had a dream when I was around four years old that I've never forgotten. I dreamt that I was sucked up by my mum's vacuum cleaner, the type with the long hose and cylinder body and lay curled up in it. In my dream I thought I'd died. The other odd thing was that I was covered in short hair. At the time I had no idea where babies came from, nor that they were curled up exactly as I saw myself. And it was only years later at school that I found out that a foetus is hairy at one point in its development. I think my dream was a back-to-front memory of being born and being in the womb. Kathryn Borg, Leicester, UK I had a memory for a long time of being held high in a room, hearing a rush of noise while peering though a hand over my face - I figured this to be my birth by Caesarian almost 2 months premature. I remember being breastfed, being fed in the highchair, driving in the car, learning to walk ... I especially remember the frustration of knowing I wanted to get somewhere, pulling myself up on furniture and the crash of falling down on wet nappies. My mother denies I could because I was nine months old. I remember my first birthday - not the fact it was my first birthday, I was able to describe a present I had in front of me and my mother scoffed that I couldn't have remembered it as it was my first birthday. But I sure remember the carpet and vinyl tiles removed from the house before I was one - I spent a lot of time on those. I definitely remember being pre-verbal - of trying to tell my mother I wanted a drink but she couldn't understand. Then there were two stays in hospital before the age of 17 months, it was more about the colours and shapes of things that I didn't know what they were then, but because I can still see them all so visibly now I can name the experience ... heaps more I could tell you ... but this thing might run out of spac... Paula, New Zealand My 3 year old daughter is obsessed with wanting to get back into my belly. When ever she's sad or feeling clingy, she says "mummy can I get back in your belly?" I automatically ask her if she has forgotten anything in there and she says "No, it's Just nice". Charlene Walker, Gillingham England I can't remember being born but I can remember the first time I was given semi-solid food after nothing but warm milk (bottle fed, by the way) - it felt so strange that it didn't just slip down easily, and I had to make an effort to swallow. I can remember slewing sideways in my highchair in reaction. I was less than a year old, for sure. I can also remember the awful sensation of the tight 'swaddling' clothes an old woman (grandmother?) tried to wrap me in so I couldn't kick and wriggle. I've hated tight clothes or tucked-in bed-linen ever since. I can also remember breaking a window at 18 months old. I'm always amazed that people can't remember before the age of 3. And no, these memories aren't linked to words / language - I remember sensations and images. C Laugesen, Leyland UK I have a vague memory of being carried out to my mother who was laying on a hospital bed. I must have been a baby because I was in the palms of their hands. I also have vivid memories from when I was 12 months old. The human mind is a very powerful tool. You can unlock anything if you try. Kirsten, QLD Australia I remember as if it was yesterday what I'm going to try to explain. I was in a bedroom in my cot looking at the sun shining trough the window and curtains. I know it was when i was in my first year because it is my great nana's house that i describe. I was born at my great grandma's house at her home and remained there until i was 9 months old. I also remember all this in image form but in particular, DETAIL. Danny Mousley, Sydenham, Australia I think that some people can remember the moment when she or he born but I think this is possible only when you are in a session of psychotherapy (regression) because the psychologist is an expert and can control the whole process. Alma, Colima, Mexico I have phenomenal long-term memory. My mother stated that I formed a complete sentence at 9 months old. I was born in Australia, and traveled to the US when I was close to 2. I can remember the ship we took to Honolulu, Hawaii, and the passengers playing shuffle board on the deck. The deck chairs were forest green canvas. I remember the hula dancers in Hawaii, and that they all wore different colored pastel hula outfits. Maybe I remember this particularly, because the colors were so beautiful. As well, I remember living in Australia, and some of the furniture in the houses there, like an old angique piano that was shipped from Hamburg, Germany in the 1860's by my great-grandfather, and was at my great grandmother's house. I remember playing under the piano as a child. I remember having Sunday dinners there with my grandparents and my great grandmother. I remember my Uncle sitting me on a Persian type carpet and pretending it was a magic carpet, and that we traveled all over the world. He was the driver and sat at the front and I was a passenger and sat at the back. He would say, "next stop is England, next stop Arabia, etc." This was so much fun. On this board it was stated that if one was able to speak at an early age, then he or she would be able to remember, as well. However, I do recall before I was able to speak, when I was just a few months old, (maybe 6 or 7 months) that I liked Vanilla ice cream. My mother bought different flavors, and vanilla was my favorite. One time she gave me strawberry (her favorite) ice cream. I wanted to tell her I hate strawberry ice cream. Why don't you give me vanilla instead? I believe this was the reason I talked at an early age. I think I just wanted to tell my mother, and the others, what I liked and what I didn't like. Further, I remember several incidences that occurred before I was able to talk. I knew clearly in my mind what I wanted to say, but the words just wouldn't come out. Although I couldn't speak, I knew what I wanted to say. I remember being extremely frustrated that I couldn't tell them what I wanted. Incidences such as these more than likely forced me to speak at an early age. So, in my opinion, we are able to remember things months before we are able to formulate a sentence. When we are finally able to formulate a sentence, we remember things from that point on, plus we remember things that we were unable to articulate months before we could talk. I also believe if we have been through a traumatic experience, then that experience remains in our sub-conscious mind, and we would be able to articulate that experience years later. We may at first see flashbacks, and then eventually, the entire picture. As these type of traumatic experiences are brought into our conscious mind, we are able to relate the experience verbally, at a later date in time. Long term memory probably depends on, as was mentioned on this board, how early we are able to articulate sentences. Tamara Beryl Latham, Brentwood, TN USA One thing that kind of bothers me is that I dont find many people that actually remember being born. I never paid much attention to that because for years it was normal for me to have that memory. I do remember me being born. I remember taking my first breath of air very silently and watching the white wall in the bedroom. I remember the people around me being concerned about something and then I remember the midwife smacking my back I dont remember any pain from it but what really bugged me was the vibration through all of my body and I protested. I remember what happened next and I remember what happened before. Of course I dont have a full memory available of my entire life but in some way I know I can reach every little thing that is important to me. Oh, and I also remember times before my birth. I do remember being in my mothers womb and feeling a bit crowded. I remember turning around looking for a way out and being puzzled as to how I would fit through such a narrow passage. And I remember before that After some time in my life it started to bother me not knowing anyone else with memories like that for many reasons it makes me feel kind of lonely. Manuel Manuel C., Setubal Portugal I have always recalled early memories and have told many people "Oh I remember when I was one year old..." and they would look at me as if I were crazy or just making it up. I kid you not, I can remember as what I deem to be infancy lying on my back and looking up at the ceiling of what appears to be a hospital and seeing bright lights. I am not sure to this day what that memory is of. Sometimes I think it was shortly after birth. I have however described the bedroom in which I slept and the crib in which I slept in great detail to my mother. She was shocked to know that I recalled what pictures were hanging on my wall as an infant. They were of Raggedy Ann and Andy. I also remember when I fell and split my eyebrow open at 18 months. I remember being rushed in our family car to the hospital and being held on my mother's lap in the back seat. She comforted me while I was drinking a bottle with apple juice in it. I am not 32, but when I told my parents of this recollection I must have been about 20. They asked me how I could have remembered that in such detail. Susan Tosh, Portland, Oregon United States It is scientifically impossible to remember events before your brain is sufficiently developed to hold on to such memories. People here who have claimed memories in the first couple of years of their lives will have created memories from dreams or other people's recollections. People who claim to remember being in the womb are, to be frank, utterly deluded. James Portfield, London UK In a lot of ways you are right James. And in a lot of ways you dont really know People who claim to remember being in the womb stated only that. But you will never see me claiming that the part of your brain that was needed to develop and the way it works so that you could fully enjoy a movie and remember it later is the one that would allow you to remember your first year of life. I know all of that though Im not an expert on the subject. It may seem weird but it is a completely different mind pattern, not based on concepts. Since we are educated with concepts, I had a hard time in school when I needed to leave behind that non conceptual pattern. Sometimes if I make an effort it comes back; other times it may occur spontaneously. Now I find that this ability has been a positive thing in my life and I dont really care for opinions or science research. It has proven to be much more fulfilling for me to live both by this non conceptual mind thing with the help from the analytical part than only with the last one. In fact, the more I allow the critical mind to rule in my life, the less comfortable it feels. So if I remember my birth, I am free to say so even if wise people say Im pulling the wool over somebody's eyes You dont really know. Manuel C., Setubal Portugal I was in a dark,warm place and I felt very secure. I could hear a steady,rythmic blip blip blip sound(mother's heartbeat) and I was comforted by it. Suddenly something terrible happened and it frieghtened me. (mother's screams, I'm sure.)Then the blip blip sound returned and I thought everything was ok. Again the terrible thing happened and this time I knew it would happen again and again. I was terrified! My body was being painfully pulled and squeased, mother was screaming and i thought something terrible, horrible and awful was happening! Then I came out and the doctor said something to me that was friendly and welcoming. I didn't know the words but I got his message! later I was in something, probably the scales and I looked over and saw a group of beings in white standing over something or someone. Later whenever I would have fever or something I would have flashbacks of my birth. I never thought i was remembering my birth. I didn't know what it was and never talked to my mother about it. I gave birth to two children and still didn't get the connection. Finally when my daughter was in labor I was able put 2 and 2 together. If my mother were still alive I would ask her if there was a large window in front of us with the sun shining brightly through it and if the doctor had a black mustashe and was short and fat. Ruth Hickman, Clemmons,NC US I have a memory that is very hard to explain. But I will try. I have had this memory my whole life.... I remember a light and then all of a sudden I knew I was here and I was alive. It Could have been right when I was born or maybe when my brain started working?lol I dont know. But it is a real memory. And still very clear to me today , I am 31 now. Tammy, USA It is entirely possible . the only reason I say this is because I do as well. It has made no real impact on my life, but still i remember. I was born in 66 the moon landing was 69 i remember dad built a color console tv we watched the moon landing in b/w but i was still going to be an astronaut Shrader, USA USA Recently after reading an anthropology monographe I asked myself what is my oldest memory, or what do i think is the thing i remember for utmost time? Well my answer is and was before: a tunnel with strange "shades" of light and a terrifying scream (my mothers voice clearly). For long time i thaught it was a dream I remembered. It must be more than 25 years since I remember this "dream". Im 29 now and I think it is possible it wasnt a dream. Andy, Over the course of my life (56 years) beginning in early childhood I had these strange sensations from time to time that felt like I was moving through a smooth fleshy channel. I was being pulled and pushed gently through what I felt was the equal pressure of the channel all around me. This was a purely physical sensation. It was and is so out of the ordinary I have often wondered if it was a pre-verbal recollection of being born. Having read the entry of the little girl saying that having a sweater pulled over her was like being born is just about what I experienced. Tom, Chico, USA I vaguely remember something before being born, like skiing, going around a mountain. Then trying so hard to remember something as well. It was so very important to remember what ever it was. Maybe it was my name. Then next thing I remember was forgetting, then coming out and seeing things. They looked new and familiar at the same time. I felt scared as I looked at the white cement block walls... then for a moment I felt recognition as my father held me. Somehow, I don't remember my mother and then i remember going down a hall. My next memory is about 8 months old. At about 2 years old and ever since I remember so much. Things I've been told shouldn't be able to remember. Jacquelyn H., Dothan USA I have no recollection of being born or any early memories as people have discussed above. However, about 3 years ago a friend of mine had just recently qualified in hypnotherapy and wanted to try some on me. So as a favour, I let him try his quit smoking program on me. We had one session (it worked, only for about 6 months though) and at the end, he said we could have a bit of fun by taking me back to the day/time in my life I wanted to relive. I asked for the day I was born as I didn't believe it was possible. He took me there and asked me to describe everything I could see, the room, the people there, what they looked like, what they could wear, etc while he wrote it down. I got in touch with my mother that very evening and bizarrely she confirmed everything I said. I didn't believe in hypnotherapy, hypnosis or anything of the sort until then. He described to me how all our memories are stored in what he called a 'filing cabinet' system. He says all memories (even whilst on the influence of alcohol or recreational drugs) can be retrieved through hypnotherapy. Sounds unrealistic to me but if one wants to believe this, then its possible to remember being born as well as anything else that has happened in our lives. Nila Patel, London England Frankly, i think most of those of you who feel you have memories of birth have just imagined them. I have many "memories" of babyhood too but i always see them in the third person perspective. This leads me to think that i have just extrapolated the memory from parents accounts of events and later memories. The Man Upstairs, Dublin Ireland I am pregnant again and my 3 year old twin daughter, Sarah was kissing my belly. I asked Sarah if she remembered being in my tummy. She said, "Yes, it was really dark in there mommy! and Hannah's feet kept kicking my head and I would look up at her." Then she moved her head in an upward movement to show me how she would look up at Hannah. The thing is, we never told Sarah she was baby A and lower and Hannah was baby B and higher, so how did she know that she would have to look up to see Hannah? Plus, Hannah was breeched so since they both weren't head down, Hannah's feet were in fact near Sarah's head. I don't know if she could really remember it but I don't know why she would make up something like that. I guess if I was kicked in the head for 9 months, that would be something to remember! Suzy, Sacramento, USA It is absolutely possible to remember something that you can't explain remembering. My earliest childhood memory was when I was roughly 5 months old. This memory looks like a dream when i'm remembering it - but it has actually happened. I'm literally having an 'outer body' experience because i'm floating in the air close to the ceiling looking down. I'm in a living/dining room and there is a wood dining table in front of me. There are 3 people there and a baby laying out on the table. The 3 people are my mom, dad and my Uncle Joe. It was his first time seeing me and they were admiring me. It goes from that, to me being in my uncles' arms on a patio and being thrown in the air over the balcony. My uncle was trying to freak my mom out, and it worked. The weird thing is, in my memory i can sense my mom's fright and worry I can remember her telling him that's enough. But I also remember praying to God to not let me die. I came to my mom with this and she was shocked, she said i couldn't possibly remember it.But the fact is, I do. I can't buy into the notion that it's something i may had heard and ran with it because in my recollection i can sense what people feel. Nobody can explain that to me. I feel that I'm enlightened and lucky to be able to remember something so early on, even though it's hard for some to believe it. I have a few more early childhood memories but that one was my earliest. Jackie, Toronto, Ontario, Canada I have been telling people for years that I remember being born. Everyone thinks I am crazy, but my experience was nearly exact to that of Ray Bradbury's. I remember being crushed and then bright lights and seeing the silhouette of a man grabbing me, but I was not scared of the voice. Steve, Phoenix, USA Yes, it is possible to remember being born, because I can remember an aspect of it. I had a reoccuring nightmare from as early as I can remember and continued regularly until the age of 8. The memory was of a pulsating pain in the eyes, panic and other sensations. There was no vision associated with the memory which made it very difficult to remember or interpret after the nightmare. I remember it as being the most frightening experience I ever had and feared having the nightmare. So, in summary, I remember being a small child having a nightmare of being born! Richard Host, Sydney Australia The thought that anybody can claim to remember being born is ludicrous. The human brain is simply not developed enough to store any long term memory. Therefore, how can you possibly remember being born. That would be like saying I know what's going to happen to me in future. I can go to a psychic, but they can't guarantee anything, just like nobody can guarantee that they were born a certain way. Edward Shambrook, Hornchurch, England I have memories from earlier than 18 months old. I remember my great granddad- very hazy memories of him taking us for walks and a little brass tortoise he used to keep sweets in! I remember sitting by the fire and playing with it. I know I was younger than 18 months old because he died when I was 18 months. I remember my mum being shocked when I recalled these memories to her at a young age so they are not memories I have 'created' as I've got older from other peoples' stories! The mind is a powerful thing! Lindsey, Manchester UK I think that a memory of being born came back to me several times when I was sick as a child. If I had strep, or the flu, or whatever...I'd lie on the couch, under blankets from the chills, and would fall into a fitful sleep. And sometimes, a dream would come to me. The only recurring dream I've ever had. I must have had it 4 or 5 times when sick in childhood. It would be hot, and I'd feel queazy, and there would just be blurry light, and these echoing voices. But they echoed in a way I can't describe, like something out of science fiction, like they were oscillating. And the weirdest thing is the pulsing/squeezing sensation. Like...feeling my heartbeat all throughout my skin, like my skin is expanding and contracting and "pounding" like a headache. And then I'd wake up in a hot sweat. It was unpleasant, but not traumatic. Mark, Lake Forest United States 2 days ago I drove past the hospital where my son (4 yrs 4mths) was born. On telling him he was born there he replied "yeah, i didn't like it, i was crying and there was too much light and i couldn't do this (covering his eyes with his hands)" He spent 5 days in special care (lit 24 hrs a day) and 2 days under UV lights and in UV blankets. The next day I asked him if he remembered being born he said 'yeah, it was good, you were happy'. I don't know if he remembers being born, i just hope he doesn't remember the heel pricks - all 15 of them. Nat, QLD Australia I have always had an unchanged, solid memory of being born. The angle I was facing, the turning upside down (frustrating, I was comfortable where I was) movement, I've drawn a map of rooms and a kitchen of the place we left before I turned 1, . Dog falling into shark invested waters at 6mths, boat accident. Simon Visentin, Brisbane Australia After reading the earlier posted answers, I now realize why most people are skeptical of anyone who says they remeber being born. Some people do but most do not. It is a major topic of conversation at the High School where I teach that I do remember being born. There were no sensations at first and then a great deal of pressure. The bright lights and the cold air of the outside world made a great impresssion on me. I remember being taken home in the family car (a black one with a shifting lever on the floor), and being placed in my baby bed. The cycles of dark and light made no sense to me, but that is the way it was and didn't worry about it. I slept a lot and when I would wake up, the dark/light patterns were random. I remember being unable to turn over in my baby bed and then doing the movements that allowed me to accomplish that task. I remember my brother (27 months older than me) coming into my room smiling but then almost touching my eyes with his finger. I could tell who touched me by the texture of their skin, the size of their hands and fingers, but especially by their odor. Every person in my family had a special odor. My dad smelled of sweat and sawdust. My mother smelled very good to me. My grandmother was fat and soft. My older borther had almost no odor at all and I was afraid when he sat on a chair and held me. I could tell by the feel that he did not know what he was doing. I remember the first time I got into a crawling position. It was not too difficult to push myself up on my arms but getting my knees under my body was much worse. I then was able to clutch the upright spindles of my baby bed and pull myself to a standing position. One day while I was standing along side the couch in the living room, I torned around and took my first step over to the coffee table. Everyone was so pleased that I was sorry that I had not tried it sooner. The problem was that it was such a long way to sit down on the floor if I could not maintain by standing posture that it scared me. I was less than 1 year old by this time. Before I was an experienced "walker", I remember being carried to the site where my father was building our new house. I was brought back to the site over the next several months and watched the walls of the basement "magically" appear, the floor and walls spring up, the house being finished, and our family moving in. Howdy Doody was a favorite with my older brother and me. I remember wearing diapers and crawling across the floor, watching the dust motes float in the air when the sunlight came through the living room window. I remember staying with my grandparents when I was 31 months old and arranging the canned goods in the lower kitchen cabinet, according to the pictures on the cans. I was irritated when there were so few of each type and not enough room to spread them out so each type of can could have its own row. We moved from St. Louis, Missouri, to Phoenix, Arizona when I was 3 years old. I remember the 1949, maroon colored Nash Ambassador car we travelled in. Dad hung a water bag on the outside mirror of the car so we would have cool drinking water but the fast flow of air evaporated all of the water so quickly that there was no water when we were ready for a drink. I remember being worried that we might not ever get any more water. These memories are part of the conintuous awarenesos I have had all my life. My parents never talked to me about any of the memories I have recounted so I was not "prompted" into false memories. I am now 59 years old and these memories are comforting. I think I would feel like a part of my life was missing if I could not remember these facts. Lon Brouse Colorado - USA Lon Brouse, Delta, Colorado USA I believe you can because I believe that it is possible to tap memories of early childhood no matter what those 'experts' say about only being able to remember anything above the age of 3. I remember getting out of my mom's womb. It was warm but then after I got out (I got out really fast because I was a really small baby though not premature) and then I felt cold and then I started to cry, I can remember my first breath and when I opened my eyes, there was nothing but a blinding white light. That's all I can remember minus gasping for air. Then I could remember my first swim around a year and a half old, I was in a yellow baby-floater tube thing. I'm 16 right now. Josef, Columbia United States I have very early memories including thoughts before birth. Although, no clue as to how long before my birth, as I had no time reference. Looking back it seems not very long before birth. Those thoughts were like an unspoken conversation with another, higher entity. I had this sensation of being loved and sense of belonging with this entity. The urge to remain where I was at this moment was my only desire. However, I was made to understand that I had to be separated and go elsewhere first. A most saddening realization. I remember trying to somehow make a case for my staying in this all-embracing love. My attempt failed and I accepted begrudgingly. Please, reader be assured these were complete non-verbal thoughts and emotions. None of this is made up or embellished. After this event there seemed to be a period of sleep-like calm. Until the moment of birth. Rather than remembering a series of contractions I felt only, what seemed like, one massive event. This was my calm environment collapsing in on me. Terror and helplessness hardly describes what I felt at this moment. At some point I remember seeing light but nothing was clear. I was being moved upside down towards a left direction. Eventually, I was near my mother and this is where my birth memories shroud over. Other early event memories include nursing on my mother's breast and falling asleep. Or another time being taken off her left breast before I'd finished drinking, quite upsetting. A hernia operation at six months. The doctor doing something to my belly-button. I looked down and watched calmly until I felt the sensation of pain (turned out to be an incising scalpel) and started crying. I have numerous other early memories. But I conclude with the aforementioned. All of this sounds odd to people that hear my story. To me, these are memories that have always been part of me. I don't know why I remember while many don't. Nor do I understand the significance of it. Unless this means that the event of death might be similar in scope and that there is a greater LOVE waiting for us. AND that LOVE is really all we want from the beginning of our existence. Norbert Meyer, Calgary, Canada I don't remember specific detail but I do remember a feeling of being stuck in a tight place and not able to breathe. All through my childhood I had terrifying nightmares about being stuck in this place, but i couldn't explain to anyone what the nightmare was about. It came as no surprise to me to learn as an adult that I was born with the umbilical cord around my neck, alarms ringing and had to be taken away and revived. My mother thought I was going to die. Camilla, Copenhagen, Denmark Yes. It's difficult to describe, however. I'm 42 now and I have been plagued by the nightmare of my birth for, well, all my life. All I remember, from as early as I remember - a constant, nightly event - is that every night I would re-live the feeling of suffocation, of pressure around my head and eyes, and of falling ever-so-slowly falling, not being able to breathe. Every night. It was so bad that I kept myself awake to avoid it, and consequently used to wet the bed all the time (also rather upsetting) because I was so tired that I couldn't wake myself up to go to the toilet. This has caused a great deal of difficulty in my life. Especially that I have been so tired for - well, forever. After that I remember my first steps (9 months), my feelings for my mother (not good) and family holidays before I was 2. There are things about humanity that are not understood, but are certainly true. I'm a senior teacher. I'm not given to making stuff up. My life, however, tells it's own story. It keeps imploding. Is that because I'm self-aware or just not other-people-aware? Or because of I remember my birth? Sam Brook, Bolton, UK As far as 'solid' memories go, I remember my sister being born when I was aged 2 and a great deal before that - waking in the morning and all sorts of lovely, cosy, day-to-day details. Though there was always these 'night terrors' full of indescribable imagery, sensations, weird and immense feelings. I've never been able to properly describe them, though they always had something of a bizarre trauma about them. I've suspected they were birth memories, or perhaps memories of the sheer terror of raw experience and sensation in those first days and weeks of my life. The night terrors went away years ago, but their disturbing, unknowable nature still has me wondering. As impossible as they are to describe, they seem to have a 'before', 'during' and 'after' sequence of events to them; the intensity of experience increasing with each step. I'll likely never know for sure(!) Lee Giles, Leicester UK I remember a childhood nightmare where a white egg shaped thing kept coming toward me. When I awoke every sound in the house seemed abnormally loud. It took me years to figure out that it must have been my birth experience. The white egg shaped light from the vaginal opening and then the sounds no longer muffled as they were inside the womb. Seems kind of odd but it was within my realm of experience so could have been simply a memory. The other truly amazing memory was a feeling of lying on my side on the edge of infinity. It was more exhilarating than scary. Maybe this is where I was before I was born? Rolloff deBunk, Toronto Canada I was kidnapped as an infant and I nearly died of starvation. I remember finally being returned to my family and their panic at my condition. They asked me if I was hungry and I stuck out my hands and said "m.... mmmmmillllk". They rushed a bottle to me which I frantically drank down. Later I developed pneumonia and spent some time in hospital and was distressed by the plastic tent I was in. I can recall trying to reach my Mother and my Aunt from there and not being successful. I would not believe it myself but I have lots of memories of a house we lived in until I was two. My Mother says I was an early talker and perhaps language is tied to memory. I even remember being frustrated when I couldn't understand what adults were saying. I could give you a tour of that house even to this day. The coal chutes which the orange cat would walk on. The basement I wasn't allowed to go near for fear of falling down the steps. The crib in my room, the full sized bed with the big bright window at the front of the house. The garden with the roses my Grandmother would grow and the large porcelain sink that my sister and I would be bathed in. It's bits and pieces and not complete, but those are as vivid as any memory I've had since. My Mother never told me these things. I told her and she confirmed them. There are no photos of that house yet my descriptions are completely accurate. I don't care what experts say. They cannot step inside our minds. They can only make an educated guess. We all develop differently. Who is to say that memories cannot be retained before the age of 2 or 1, or even at birth? I cannot remember birth but I've had plenty of people say they can't remember anything that happened to them as babies. D Watling, Toronto, Canada It is definitely possible, and I know because I dreamed my own birth frequently during the first thirteen years of my life. It was terrifying, always awakening me. In the dream I was in a warm moist dark red place, quite comfortable until suddenly the red walls began squeezing me, which I found quite frightening, and it went on for some time. Then I would awaken, and for the first few moments everything around me seemed enormous. The sheets on my bed seemed as coarse as burlap to my fingertips. If I had had any knowledge of the birth process at the ages at which I had these dreams, they could have been explained as projections of some sort; but I was entirely sexually naive, and could not imagine what the dream represented: only that it was terrifying. Dean Bevan, Lawrence, Kansas, U.S.A. It's funny that directly above my answer is an account of a very similar birth memory dream. I remember a dream; a recurring dream, that I began having at around 3 years old. It did not stay with me for more than 2 years and was forgotten for several decades. It came back to me in adulthood when I could make sense of it. It was more stressful than terrifying. The sensations were very similar. Rubbing and squeezing over my entire body and the the internal rubbing "sound" in my head with each contraction. Like the prior account, the dream seemed to go on for some time. There was a veiled, darkened light as well. Judith Garel, Acton, Canada I am not exactly sure if mine is a "birth" memory but my earliest memory is being surrounded by blackness (or I could have had a blanket over my head) and I was thinking "well I have to go through all that learning again". It was not a comforting thought! But it has lead to a very deep belief in reincarnation! Vicky Harriosn, Northampton, UK Yes, like many of you I remember such an experience: a warm, red environment, lying on my right side, moving in a very 'stop start' fashion through a narrow tunnel. The strangest thing is that I seem to remember an old man talking to me, I think a bit harshly. Then I remember no more about the birth, but I remember loads about being a baby: crying in my cot, being fed rusks, etc. I've always accepted these memories and I thought they were normal, sharing them with friends. Needless to say, they all had me down as a bit of a nut. But the memories are at the very 'core' of myself and I do not question them at all. Lisa Jones, Ross-on-Wye, England I have bits and pieces of memories from the day I was born. I remember being in the plastic tub on a cart that was being wheeled down the hallway of the hospital. My view was the ceiling and I could see each florescent light fixture as I passed under it. The reason I know this memory comes from my first day here is because I also remember a nurse peering in at me. She looked at me for a while, and as I watched her I noticed her eyes would blink. I immediately copied her and that's how I learned to blink. I also had been crying when inhaling and exhaling. I noticed very quickly people were only making their voice work while exhaling, so I quit using my vocal cords when inhaling. Babies learn by copying everything. Babies are very aware of their surroundings. Most babies do not remember much, but the know-it-alls who say children under age 3 can't remember due to the brain not being developed enough isn't considering the possibility that other viable explanations exist. The brain is the most impressive organ and we have a lot to learn about it's mysteries. I have quite a few memories of things before age 3. I am now 48 years old and these memories have stayed constant my entire life. It might be rare, but it's very possible to remember details from when you were born. Laura Luke, Colorado, United States All of my life I have been able to remember very early events in my life. I can remember the pain of getting wind, of being in nappies, trying to focus my eyes on the walls. I remember sleeping in the same room as my parents (they split when I was about 2.5) and asking for a drink, they couldn't understand my words but eventually guessed what I wanted. I remember being walked around the room and asked to try to walk to my father from the sofa. My earliest memories are of a very basic type and like names, they come and go. I first remembered being born when I tried to imagine what a dying relative must have gone through. I suddenly got this feeling of huge pressure on my head and shoulders and the feeling that I could not stand it anymore, with it came a loss of something, hope. But I survived, I also recall something very different to any thing I had known, light. My impression of my first sights are of a lifeless nsignificant picture, I didn't know what, if anything, was important, I certainly didn't know what a human was or what one looked like. It was meaningless. It took some time to associate a face with the one who cared for me. On another occasion I recall being held up to the mirror and told I was there. I saw the familiar picture of the powerful being who ruled my world and thought that that must be me, but was told that no, I was the very small insignificant blond object he was holding. J C W, Oldham, England Yes!! Many people I've told have said that it can't be true. I remember there was nothing and then suddenly light. I remember hearing as if you come out of the water. But nothing else, can't tell you where it happened or what the people looked like around me. I guess it's because I didn't know anything, like what are people or what is a room or I guess anything. I mean, that's when you start learning. Mario Agra, Pretoria, South Africa I knew I wasn't crazy! I remember telling my sixth grade teacher that I remember being born and she thought I was going nuts. She laughed and said "That's impossible", but I didn't care. I still believe that I remembered my birth. All I remember is being taken from somewhere, I knew I existed before, but it was darkness and when I came out, my eyes were finally open, I remember being placed on some sort of table with bright lights above. I wasn't scared, I felt no pain and I couldn't hear. I just know I felt safe and that everything was going to be okay. I also remember events of getting my diapers changed and things from when I was 1 and 2. Phillip Little, North New Jersey, USA None of my family seem to believe me but I'm pretty sure that I remember being in my mothers womb. It was complete darkness, I remember it being echoey and kind of like shininess in the distance but I remember no more and then can't recall any other memories of my early childhood James Girling, Nottingham, England, UK I have asked many of my friends & relations if they can remember being a baby. Sad to write, nobody has ever said yes. I have so many vivid memories of my babyhood, all good and bad. I remember being ill and in the hospital all the time. My first few months of life was spent at the hospital. My late mother told me she was finally able to take me home when I was 3 1/2 months old. I did not like those old steel cribs they used, the ones that became jail-like when the sides were lifted. My happy times was when my mother came to visit and the bad times when she left. Another memory was when I was finally home. I sat on the floor beside my brothers' bunk bed. It looked so big and so vast. My brother Michael, who was on the top bunk, began teasing me because I was not allowed up. I started crying because I knew I wanted to be up there with him. My mother came into the room and picked me up and told Michael he should be nice to his baby sister. Lisa Morrisseau, Thunder Bay, Canada I think I know why most people do not remember being in the womb. Every since I was a child I have had dreams and recurring sensations of being part of what I called a "flesh machine." There are very particular bodily sensations and muffled voices associated with it. I think we don't usually remember being in the womb because it involves a state of consciousness, rather than a usual sort of memory, and one has to be in that state of consciousness to access the full flavor of it. While meditating at age 21, I found I could summon up these achingly familiar auditory, spatial and somatic sensations almost at will, and it was then that I decided that it was almost certainly a womb memory. Since then, I've re-experienced it many times, and I assume it is what I felt while ensconsed in my mother's womb. My earliest verifiable, ordinary sort of memory occurred when I was about 18 months old. We were on their way to Burtonwood Air Force Base to fly to the U.S., where we would live from that point on. I was sitting on my father's lap in the back seat of a vehicle, looking out at row houses to my right. In front of me was my mother in the front passenger seat. She had on a black hat, which had a particular kind of black netting. After describing this to my mother several times over the years, she has repeatedly confirmed that we were in a cab, that I was on my father's lap, and that she was in the front seat, wearing that hat. While undergoing hypnotherapy, I also remembered being in my pram and having a women with bright painted lips coming at me for a kiss. I was not able to verify this even earlier memory. There is voluminous anecdotal evidence from researchers experimenting with psychedelic drugs, particularly Stanislav Grof, that people can remember various stage of gestation and birth. This is interesting, because these accounts also involve entering different states of consciousness. Michael E. Arth, DeLand, FL USA When I was very little I had very powerful sensations that I could never work out, nor put into words. But they have stayed with me and I occasionally experience it today. It is a very very intense and unpleasant feeling of being trapped and trying to find a way out, but I couldn't...Of feeling confused and panicked, something is happening around me but I feel helpless. It is hard to put a sensation into words, but I believe these are flashbacks of my birth. I have an amazing memory of my childhood and even of being a baby. I can remember clearly the fun I had in the baby bouncer and and can even remember being in the pram with my twin brother the other end and staring up at faces. Sarah W, Tewkesbury England I have several memories in my first year, which I have never discussed. They are flagrant with feeling alone, very alone, wet and cold or too hot next to the fire. Or remembering being flung on the couch as they fought and being afraid i would fall. I remember being very aware and alert as too these two people held my life in their hands and I could not move. I remember this. I have three or four memories, 2 being my first year and when I could not move and knowing that I had to learn ASAP or be hurt. Samantha, Linton United Kingdom I also had horrific nightmares for many, many years that I couldn't place or describe until I understood the birth experience with an adult mind. There were two types of nightmares the first had no visual elements. They were purely physical - each part of my body being compressed and suffocating, and the darkest most hopeless feeling overtaking me. As a child I would wake up crying and go into my parent's room to tell them I had a bad dream. They asked me to describe it, but I had no words except "its parts" as in body parts. The dreams only lessened when I understood what they were, and I rarely had them afterwards, but it was well into my teenage years. Now I can't recall the last time I have dreamed this. Anne, Waterloo, US I have memories from before 3 years old. I remember I was standing in my crib, the door was slightly open and light from the hallway was shining through. Then my dad came in, he was wearing his work shirt and he kissed me on the head, laid me back down, and walked out. I had a wet diaper, so I was mad that he didn't change it. The most amazing memory I have was around 2 years old, my mother was giving me a bath in the kitchen sink and my dad was watching "The Flintstones", which was prime time in 1968. I was looking at the full moon outside the window and thinking "I wish I lived on the moon because its really quiet there". These two memories are very clear and I have had them my entire life. When I told my parents about the latter memory they said we moved out of that duplex when I was 2 years old. They knew which one it was because I described the rock fireplace next to the TV to a 'T'. Debbie, Carmichael, USA I do remember being born, I have never told anybody except for my wife because I know how crazy it sounds and of course my wife doesn't believe me and i have no proof so that she would. I don't remember the actual objects or people in the room. What I do remember is the feeling and emotions I went through at the time of birth. I remember being in a dark warm and comfortable place. I remember something trying to take me out of this warm dark place, I felt cold for a split second and I tried to fight to stay in the warm dark place, then suddenly I remember bright light and feeling very cold and uncomfortable. I felt so cold and uncomfortable that it must have imprinted a permanent memory of this event. the event which was my birth. Mario, Union City USA I vividly recall seeing the old steel bedframe, a dimly lighted room (no electrical lights at the time) and the faces of my aunt and a neighbor. (no doctor) I don't recall sounds. Not too many people believe the story but what the heck, I certainly do!! Jerry Irons, Cisco, Okla USA When I was very young (toddler age) I often had a recurring dream where I felt myself being lifted up on what felt like some kind of carpet and the dream would always end with me seeing a bright, bluish face. When I woke I would have a strange tingling feeling in my navel and a strange smell in my nose. Uriah, US I think this warrants investigation. I do not remember being born. I've only met one person who says they do. My earliest memory was at (~3?) years remembering the memory of feeling the smooth baby bath on my back and warm water. I saw the baby bath and that reminded me of the earlier memory. I was very confused at the time because that meant I must have been a lot smaller. What confused me later on, and prompted a lot of introspection was as a toddler, remembering the reality of perception I had as a baby, which was a lot more `passive`, for want of a better word; just percieving. Touch being stronger and emotions/feelings too. It's like 90% of your mind is on a mothers smile. The whole world could be exploding and you wouldn't notice so long as mother's happy. I also have to stress that putting this into words immediately makes the recount inaccurate because there were no words at both points. I think when a memory is of no use to you anymore it goes to the bottom of the pile unless you reaccess it. The key thing there is that what you think might be of interest to you is not always really what you truely want. Thus, a past life memory, whether true or false has little value to most people deep down. However, for some people the _emotional_ echo/imprint/whatever of birth, for example, perhaps feeling cheated with it, can be more accessabile to remember. I think it warrants investigation. It's testable. Jago Pearce, Plymouth, UK Well, first I should say it feels quite hurtful that my mum doesn't believe I remember being born. I read some of the entries here and at first was struck with disbelief like "yeah, right," so it made me understand better how my parents could not believe me. But it's still offensive to me that they don't believe me. I remember looking around in total blackness, thinking "where does that end? Does it go on forever?" I remember in the darkness feeling so wonderfully peaceful and weightless, like how one might imagine maybe floating in space. I can say I have a wonderful memory of that feeling. Very wonderful and peaceful, and I can't think of a feeling that made me feel as nice as that. Anyway, I don't know if there was a break or not between this memory and the next, but the next memory I have is of the sound of water in your ears, and then I remember hearing crying (which I'm sure was me, it was high pitched crying), then I remember very wobbly voices (when I think of the voices right now, I imagine it's my mom's voice being urgent and wobbly with emotion, but I'm not sure), and very blurry figures of color, mostly white blurriness. My guess is it was a doctor (nurse maybe?) in a white coat pulling me out. And that's it. Probably like 15-25 seconds of memory, but you know, it was day 0 for me so I'm sure my sense of time could be completely off. It was comforting to read this thread, I have to admit. For the skeptics, I just got done reading an article on a Chase Britton who was born without a cerebellum. It is supposed to be impossible for this child to have balance, show emotion, and many other things. He's also missing his pons, which Western medicine believED controlled sleeping and breathing. I capitalize the past tense because, obviously, many doctors and experts are befuddled and realize they have to rethink what they thought they knew about the human brain. Skeptics feel free to Google it. Joshua Carlson, Huron, South Dakota, US I don't remember being born, but I have a few memories from being young. I remember being in the kitchen, and seeing my Mum's legs near the kitchen counter. She dropped something on the floor, and I crawled over and put it in my mouth, and it tasted really bad. I know that it was raw potato now. Another is being in the hospital playroom, trying to climb on top of a big red ball and I fell off it. I was there all the time for my little brother who's head wouldn't move from his left side. My brother is 21 months younger then me, and he had the therapy for his neck as an infant, so I was under three. Also my Dad left my Mum when I was 24 months and didn't make contact at all for 6 months, and I remember him being at the hospital, so yeah, I was definitely under the age of 3 Taylor, Newcastle, Australia I had a 10 pound baby and of course I was very sore. I was in the upstairs bathroom and the baby monitor was in the next room. And the baby downstairs with the receiving monitor downstairs with my Mom. In the bathroom which getting around or doing everyday "tasks" were very painful. Anyway I moaned and cried in pain which the downstairs monitor picked up. My daughter was sound asleep was startled awake and started screaming as told by my mother. I always wondered if she was having a flashback to the time of her birth (a difficult one at that). What do you think? Colleem, Picton, Canada I have always found myself different, weird and abstract from others...I remember not only being born but conception! I know it sounds crazy. I did have a brief conversation with a soul mate in a place that seemed to be heaven. I even promised him that I would wait for him. I was told by some authority that I had to "Go Back". I know there is a lesson here. I remember picking my father, mother, sisters and brothers. During the process I was encased in the egg during fertilization. I grew within my mothers womb; resembling the universe. To many people this sounds pretty insane I know. With such vivid memories and telling my mother at the age of 2 that I " Picked Her". Was obviously scary! The reason I know that my life is what I decided is everything I was told before coming here happened. My mother died of cancer...Unfortunately I knew she would. I still have these weird abilities that make me ponder. No, I am not dealing with life through a dream or making believe I am special. I have been evaluated and I am not mentally insane:) I don't do drugs or drink. I just want to know is there anyone else that has experienced this? Let me know! Jo-Bean, Denver US I remember. More I remember the womb and not the womb. I remember the first steady clear noise I heard. I have since confirmed there was a television on in the recovery room when I was born (and that the show in question was on at the time of my birth). We did not have a television at home. I remember the theme song to the television show that was playing. I remember a lot, and understand there are others like me, discovered by researchers in synesthesia who have come across test subjects who also have AS. Anyone who says NO ONE can remember is a bigot who isn't listening. The thought processes change a great deal over the first few years. Some people choose to carry over early memories to the lexicon. Sean, San Antonio, TX USA I don't remember being born but I do remember when I was in my cot (around 6 months old?), and having a dream that there was water around my cot, and I must have screamed. I remember trying to tell my parents what I had seen by pointing to the floor. I don't think they understood, but they responded with there's nothing there. I remember my parents also taking me to bed with them, but they put me back because they were annoyed by my screaming all night. I remember feeling afraid of sleeping alone again that night but remember having a more pleasant dream about being in a ocean full a fish.. I really can't explain this dream. As for being born, I don't think the idea should be swept under the carpet, I do believe people could remember birth, but myself, I didn't. Stephen, Liverpool UK He had the same pre-birth experience as mine: "The other truly amazing memory was a feeling of lying on my side on the edge of infinity. It was more exhilarating than scary. Maybe this is where I was before I was born?" Rolloff deBunk, Toronto Canada "I remember looking around in total blackness, thinking "where does that end? Does it go on forever?" I remember in the darkness feeling so wonderfully peaceful and weightless, like how one might imagine maybe floating in space. I can say I have a wonderful memory of that feeling. Very wonderful and peaceful, and I can't think of a feeling that made me feel as nice as that." Joshua Carlson, Huron, South Dakota, US Rolloff deBunk, Toronto Canada I believe people can remember if they are blind folded with ear plugs to hear ones own heart and lay in a tank full of warm water. I think that is probably the closest thing to remember being in the womb. Hears a philosphical thing the human race is young I mean overall its age in the cosmos is that of a newly formed embryo and the earth is mankind's womb. Just think about it for a second people mention things like mother nature and there are statues of a green woman (pregnant) whos belly is the earth. Humanity has a long way to go for enlightenment and such. Casey, Portland U.S.A I'm 12 years old and I keep on having this vision of a yellow room with a white man capturing me and... then after some while I remember somebody whispering into my ear : I love you baby It's just so creepy and this thing keeps on haunting me I don't know if I can take it our of my head Joelle Jabbour, Beirute Lebanon I am very consoled today by all these testimonies.I have tried to tell people about remembering being born let alone my time in the womb.But they think am crazy,but i always believed there was an answer..so today,i searched the net to see if there were people with the same experience,i must say am impressed!!! in the womb i felt i was confined in place,hearing my mums voice and siblings playing around,i felt the urge to join them but couldn't.My surrounding was all red possibly from the sun rays through my mum's tummy.I could hear music playing in the background. At birth,i vaguely remember a lady with a nurse's attire carrying me,then i remember seeing my mum laying on a hospital bed looking weak,i recall seeing light and a feeling of becoming aware of my existence.All these memories are very clear to me and believe it or not nobody can take them away from me.I am now 33years old. Around 6 years ago there was a dramatic experience,my sister in law gave birth to a son in the same hospital.I went to see her at the hospital,somehow a strange feeling came over me that i had been in this very spot before.I reached for my phone and called mum,i asked her if she remembers the ward and bed she was when she gave birth to me,she said ward 6 bed 8 guess what????i was standing at the exact spot...i cried as i shared this with her she was totally freaked out!!!I have shared this strange part of me with my family,my husband...I think am really special!!!how is this possible???what a coincidence???is this beyond science?what is it?? Brenda, Kampala Uganda Indeed, I remember, my Father is a medicine man of Dene, First Nations, Canadian North American Indians. My first memories were that of my birth mothers intestines, I always seen this when I was up to age 5. I also remember my brain being formed and my teeth coming in. The pain was unbearable. This is a memory not a dream. I also remember in the crib laying with no pillow and then to my amazement a pillow is set under my head. I have also memories of past life and the afterlife but that is different experience. To all those who have this memory, we are special and alive. B.L.R, Toronto Canada cool Brenda! I wish I would have an experience like that. What was the yellow room? Did you see it on your return visit? I'm interested in the realizing your existance thing, cool!! What was it like? I don't remember being born, but I remember being at Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico, USA when I was 1.5 years old. The memory is a vision of me trying to put my finger in the water behind the rail down in the caves. My mother confirmed it and told me she was thankful i was on a tether/leesh, so she could pull me back. I've searched for more memories of that time, but haven't found anything yet. I've yet to try hypnotism, but I'm mostly convinced that maybe that could find something. I'll let ya know! Matt, Long Beach USA Yes. It is possible to remember the birth. I know that because I remember and those are the first things I remember in my life: I remember being thirsty. My mouth very dry. I remember shouting and getting calm as they came and treat me, then shouting again until sleep. And there are more couples of details. Rodrigo, Cacapava Brazil I remember being born. I am 25 years of age and I remember even being alive before I was born. I remember my teeth jittering and passing out being born next and I recall the doctors voice and what he looked like the next day when I saw him and I never saw him again. I confirmed what he looked like to my mother. I can also recall what our first home looked like we did not live there very long. Dana, Canada HOw can I remember my father? he died when i was almost 4 years old...i cant remember him... juan chaves, san jose costa rica For as long as I could remember, I had been having a recurring nightmare. In this nightmare, I was in a very dark place. I could hear a heartbeat that seemed to be my own but not mine at the same time. I could also hear muffled voices saying things I was unable to understand. I also occasionally heard what sounded like silverware dropping on a metal tray. As time passed, the heartbeat grew faster and louder. The voices seemed to also grow louder with a greater sense of urgency. Then I felt everything suddenly speed up and, all at once, the voices grew very loud in unison, to a crescendo, and I saw a bright blurry light. At this point, I would always wake up in a sweat with my heart beating fast, scared out of my wits. My step-brother was born with pneumonia. In his mid-twenties he went through something called re-birthing to help him ease his memory of the traumatic experience. From his description of the re-birthing process and my recurring nightmare, I concluded that I had been repeatedly remembering my birth in a dream. Since the day of that realization until now, more than thirty years later, I have not had a recurrence of that dream. But I still remember it vividly, and so therefore, I believe, do I also remember my own birth. Mike, Green Bay, WI USA I remember bright lights, having my feet stamped and the doctor. I asked my Mom when I had my feet stamped. She said the only time was when I was born. I do remember being born. Stuart Peacock, Washington DC United States I have distinct memories of pulling myself up and holding onto the bars of my cot, (before I was able to speak english) and talking to my bedroom wall in the early light of morning. I used to talk and talk in my own babble but get so frustrated and upset because no one would talk back to me. I must have done this regularly as my mother (many years later) told me she remembers waking up and hearing me and then having to get out of bed in the early morning because she knew eventually I would end up crying. I also remember the colour and texture from inside of my pram hood and my head banging gently against the side of it when the pram was moving. I have also many other memories of little events long before I was 2 years old, including sitting on a cold white potty! I can't recall being born but I am glad that I don't because apparently the umbilical cord was wrapped around my neck and my head kept pulling back into the neck of the womb. The midwife managed to pull the cord up over my head allowing me to finally come out. Jan, York England I'm nearly 16 and no one believes me when I tell them I still faintly remember being born. But I know I do. Why would I lie about remembering something? To seem cool on the internet? No. I remember coming out from darkness and then I saw bright, white light and I almost feel like I remember crying too. I've had this memory since I was a little girl but my parents and family have never believed it. Gracie, United States I can recall nothing of the "coming out" experience of birth...However I remember being handled by a man then placed on a table while he did something I wasn't able to see (everything was quite blurry)....The main memory was it was so cold it almost burned. so very cold.....After that nothing till I was 3 Jason, Scott United States I always had continuous dreams of dying as a baby, but in the dream when I was suffering pains and about to die, someone held my hand and said.."you'll be all right, I'm with you". It was not until later in life, in my teens that my nasty sister told me my mother tried to abort me. When I confronted her (my mother) she did not deny it, but stated "when you were born, you were loved" Consequently I am certain there is a superior being,.. a God. Robert, Armagh N Ireland I can remember my birth mike wilson, warren arkansas bradley I remembered emerging from my mother with my left shoulder dislocated when I underwent cranial osteopathy. When I described the room and the time on the clock on the wall to my mother she needed a whisky. She went on to tell the 3-day story of her labour with me and my memory was corroborated. I also remember a previous death, from another cranial osteopathy session. In Buchenwald in the 1940s - most unpleasant place. Steve the Healer, Ashford UK I had for a long time a vague recollection of going from one life to another. It wasn't until my mid forties that I realised that it may have been my life in utero to my experience of life a few minutes after birth. I recall figures and light. I also recall at a young age watching people talking and the moment I realised they were communicating as my ability to understand their words became more developed. I recall also at a young age watching people leave a room, and then come back, and realising coming back was possible. At the age of one there is a photo of me and my sister holding chickens, I recall my grandmother asking me to hold them, and freaking out, then seeing my sister already with them in her hands and being relieved. Sharene Hart, Blackburn North Australia HI everyone, I am so happy I found you all. It is now early 2012. In my 20s, in an elevator, I suddenly had a sensation of smelling something that I had never smelled before. Almost immediately, I went into a short-lived trance, experiencing what Tom Chico described. I felt this tight smooth sensation, like pulling a turtle neck on, that had equal pressure all over my body. I felt my eyes were closed, and I felt as though I was moving head first, squeezed through something tight and soft. I had this experience about 6 times in my life and realize it sounds just like I was going through the birth canal. I do not remember getting to the outside, I don't remember being in the womb and at this point (63 years old) I have no memories of early childhood. But the very unusual odour would put me into this trance where several times in my life I would go through the sensation and experience being, what I now feel was being born. I found it peaceful and gentle and would love to be able to experience it on demand and perhaps feel more and not awaken out of the trance so quickly. I suppose I am lucky that I actually got to experience this ultimate sensation more than once! Nonie Craige, Baldwin, NY USA When I was 1/12 to 3 years old I had bad dreams of going through a black hole and seeing a white light always being afraid of the light. I didn't realize until I was an adult and had my own children that the dreams I had as a child was my mother, having a hard time giving birth to me. She gave me up to a family friend a day later. I found my family. Nadine Boyce, Las Vegas I TOO REMEMBER BEING BORN, I DO NOT KNOW WHAT YOU WOULD CALL THIS, BUT HAVE MET ONLY ONE OTHER PERSON THAT THIS HAS HAPPENED TO! Betty Hogan, Summerville United States As I sit here and read all of these responses I now know I am not alone! I have remembered things from 1 month and after! at 8 weeks, I rolled off the changing table and out the window, onto the grass below. I remember my mother yelling for my father that someone took me. At 3 months, I remember my father falling through the porch floor; weak boards! We rushed him to the hospital, he had a broken arm and a broken rib. I remember when my sisters and brother were all born! Each came home in a yellow outfit! When i was 2, my legs didnt want to work, , i played hide and seek with my uncle,,and i remember the house we lived in,each room, the color of the walls and doors even the floors! I have other memories from when i was 1 - some good, some not so good! When I was 11 months old, I gave a lady at the grocery store a heart attack right there on the street, she thought i was a doll, until i moved! I once asked my mother about these events and she was flabbergasted that i could even remember them! She herself has never told me anything and neither has my father, who hasn't been in my life from age 8 until now. I have no clue as to how I remember all this, I just do! No one in my family can even remotely begin to tell me how I can remember all this - I was, as they say, ""just a baby". Mary dutcher, Chatsworth, USA Whether it is "possible" or not, I have several vivid memories of infancy where I am in my crib. I was once sitting in my living room chair at the age of 15, and suddenly, I had a memory- of being BORN! I had never discussed it with my mother before, but she said all of my memories were accurate, down to the minutia of detail that I could have known only by first-hand knowledge. I remember being in a walker at my Nanny's home to which I had only been to as an infant until later. In this instance, I was looking up at her thinking clearly to myself, "why are you talking like that lady? I understand what you are saying!" This is interesting to me, as it denotes that babies understand that language long before they can communicate back. In another case, I am even younger, in my crib, and I was salivating over the puffy little animals on my mobile that hung over the crib. In particular, the "red" on a horse looked delicious. I remember just knowing that if it was in my mouth it would taste "red". I described other places and the placement of furniture and such in places where I have never been, except as an infant. Avril B., Nashville, USA My answer is a most definite yes. I cannot remember being born but I have memory of being in my mother's womb. I have written a book (People Of The Womb) which should be available in late 2012. In the book I recreate something of the experience of our lives in the womb, the gradual shift to our adult lives and the ongoing interrelationship between the beings we are while in the womb and the adult lives we live. Richard Blinn, Canada I have the memory of being in the womb just before birth and I remember feeling that it was time to go and that I was apprehensive about it. Then I remember knowing that I had to go and something similar to the near death experience reports of going towards a light. After being born I remember being blinded by this light. My eyes became acclimatised to the light about the same time I recall being grabbed by a leg, held upside down and slapped on the behind and crying. I remember it being a rather shocking and unsettling affair. I remembered this later in life and it came to me in a dream, but I have had some pretty profound dreams and it seemed like an actual memory to me at the time. Since then I've had out of body experiences and I trust my instincts. I am however open to the possibility that this all could just be a dream that my mind concocted. James Radke, Dania Beach United States I have a memory of a small red 'draped' room where I felt warm and comfortable. I have often wondered if this is a womb memory. I recently discovered that I have a high-functioning autistic syndrome - I was synaesthetic as a child, and obsessional traits such as the alphabet (trying constantly to find the letters in order) persist. I wonder if autistic brains develop differently in the womb, making memory possible. Diana Lyons, Leeds, England Yes, it is possible to remember being born. My eldest son, Ainan, who is a child prodigy, described his own birth, before he was 12 months of age (his speech was advanced), from the perspective of someone in the womb, at the time. It was an uncanny moment and both my wife and I witnessed his account. Our other children also exhibited very early memories, of their childhood - in fact, I hesitate to write, here, of the nature and timing of those memories, lest I not be believed. Our entire family has memories way before anyone might expect them to have memories. From our experience, I would say that it is just a myth that children cannot remember before the age of 3. All of us have much earlier memories than that. Valentine Cawley, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia I've stopped telling people that I remember being in the womb and some things shortly after I was born, because the universal response is that these memories are an impossibility. But, here is a short list of some things I remember: 1) being in the womb 2) being in an incubator 3) being in my crib at home and looking at the fish tank in my room 4) being rocked by my mother next to my crib 5) seeing my older brother and his friend playing and not being able to join them because I was stuck in a playpen 5) Walking for the first time in front of both my parents - my dad behind me and my mom in front of me (they went crazy with praise!) I do not have a memory of actually being born. I'm not sure I'd want to remember that, anyway! Juli Greenberg, Pennington NJ, USA I remember one time when I was in my mother's arms and feeding on her breast. I asked my mother how many months she breast fed me, she said one year only. I also remember another time, some neighbour laughing at me for breast feeding at old age. I believe at that time I must be about one year old and could not understand what the neighbour said. Charlie Zhao, Shanghai, China I've always had memories of my infancy, never of being born, but very vivid, colourful memories of sitting in my crib with my grandparents discussing me but not really speaking directly to me. I remember riding in the backseat of the car, I don't know where we were going but my mother was in the front passenger seat wearing a muted pink dress, I always stared at her because she was very beautiful to me. My grandfather, who I felt loved me very much would rock me in a rocking chair - this was a great comfort to me and I enjoyed this tremendously. My grandfather encouraged me to walk and practiced with me around the living room table. I told my mother of my memories when I was very young, she would always look at me quizzically and say, "how do you remember those things?" I also have a form of synesthesia, the syndrome where the senses are crossed. I've always tasted color, it's a very pleasant sensation. Alexandra Preston, Highlands Ranch, Colorado USA I am 24 years old now and was recently talking to my Mom about childhood memories. I can remember learning how to walk when I was under the age of one. It blew my mind that I could remember that far back. The mind is a powerful thing, and on more than one occasion I have predicted something that has happened later. I feel like with the help of the right person I could control this part of my brain and do extraordinary things. Jorda., Michigan USA I personally don't remember being born or anything about my infancy. However, I had a conversation with one of my 3 year old twins that floored me a couple of days ago. We were looking at my ultrasound pictures from the "twin pregnancy" and he said,"I remember when he was in your tummy mommy. I was swimming in the green water and kicking you. Then there was a dark hole and I was out." I had a C section and he was baby b-furthest away from the incision. He has never seen any person or animal either in person or on TV give birth so it definitely gave me a shock! Makes me wonder... and believe in the amazing memories that our kids can hold on to!! Thank you, Lord for always coming up with a way to add shock & awe to my life :) Margaret O'Gara, Pensacola USA My two year old son came skipping into the kitchen while I was preparing lunch. He was happy and and asked me if "I remembered that big bright white light". I squated down to his height at the time and asked him "What big bright white light"? He said "you remember... The day I picked you and dad". Then he skipped out of the kitchen to continue playing... I couldn't believe it... Did he actually remember being born? He is now 27 and does not seem to recall that conversation with me, but it sure has stayed with me. I am just so happy that he seemed pleased and content about it. Renee, Fort Frances, Ontario Canada I have memory of being in the womb, and may be even before then... It was comfortable amazing and and dark in the beginning and then very tight, and uneasy. i remember forming emotion of discomfort may be even fear at the end. Also i remember forming the recantation on dim warm light or color,or may be temperature of light,later on, and constant beat(probably heart) i remember the event of Birth. Light and first breath and entrance the world. I remember the event being very difficult and painful but also victorious, remember haven complete consciousness at the time. i remember my mothers energy as already known. i think consciousnes remember were lost shortly after as i started to adopt to environment. At some point it becomes memory of memory, but i still can recollect very particular sense. Rina, moscow russia Absolutly, it is possible to remember birth and infant life. My parents tell me when I was very young ( maybe 3), I would tell them about being born. I told them about the brigth lights, the hospital room and being laid on my mothers stomach (things a 3 year old child would not know-this was 1951, before television was in our homes). I was pre-mature and therefore spent the first 6 weeks of my like in a hospital incubator. My parents tell me, I would tell them, I didnt think I had any parents because no one paid any attention to me. No, I do not remember theses things now, but I have so many memories from infancy and toodlerhood that I could write a book. I will mention a few here because I think it is interesting to know how an infant thinks. I was about 5 months old and it was Easter Sunday. My family was at my fathers parents home in the back yard taking pictures. My sister and I were sitting on a patio bench, the type that is made of metal cross wires. I remember the light coming through the the square holes formed by the cross wires. The light was so amazing, I could not take my eyes away. I remember, everyone saying look at the camera. I knew what they wanted but I didnt care I wanted to look at the light. I have the picures from that day in a photo albume. In every picrure, I am looking down at the bench. I have another memory around 15 months old. My sister and I are sitting under a Christmas tree. We are wearing the new Christmas dresses my mother made for us and those little white shoes, all babies wore back in the 50s. I remember my sister and I were not happy because the Christmas tree was not our Christmas tree and the presents were not for us. We were at the home of our parents friends and the friends let their kids open their presents on Christmas Eve. I suppose our parents thought my sister and I were too young to know what was going on but we definitly did know what was going on and we were most certainly not happy about it. I remember one of the kids got a stick-horse and I wanted that stick-horse so badly. I have that picture in my photo album too. My sister and I both look like we are about to start crying! One more memmory that I find interesting is a thought I had some time before 12 months old. I was lying in my crib, and was thinking about the grave yard next door to our house. I remember wondering why people thought it was scary to live next to a grave yard. I remember thinking how silly they were because it was not scary at all. I do not think I thought this in words exactly but somehow I thought it.! Finally, the reason I felt compelled to seek others who have these same kind of memories is because of something that happened resently. Two weeks ago, I had an Asthma attach. I have not had Asthma for as long as I remember, but as soon as the feeling of not being able to breath was in my consiouness, I recognized it. Even if, I no longer remember being in that incubator, my body remebered exactly how it felt and my body took over. I knew to use my excersory muscels and purse my lips to help me catch my breath and most importantly, I knew the more I thought about it the worse it was going to get. Our muscels have memory (ie: riding a bike), so purhaps in some similar way so does our mind. Diana, Tampa USA I do remember when i was being born. In my memory, I was in a dark place. (At that moment, I was feeling where I m). After 1 sec, I saw a shine white light. And then my memory start in 2-3years old already. I m feeling before I was born, i was here in the world already! Any1 feeling same as me? DD, China Hong Kong I can remember my first home and my grandparents home (which I lived in until I was three months). It was a red barn with a white one level house with a white veranda surrounded by fields. There were mountains in the distance. As I was later adopted I was only told about where I had lived as a baby earlier this year. After typing the name of the town into Google Maps I was astounded to find that there was a white house next to a red barn in the town (there were not many houses in the town, so this was no just a coincidence) and, yes, there was a chain of mountains in the distance and fields surrounding the house. Bella, Southend Essex I don't remember being born tho I remember being in the womb. It wasn't pleasant. It was pink and swirly and I had a very bad headache that seemed somewhere above my eyes and made me feel sick. I HATED the colour pink when I was a child because it always reminded me of it. I also remember learning to walk, holding on to a couch and thinking my Mum and auntie talked a lot but it wasn't exactly a thought, it was more a feeling they talked a lot! I remember an incident when I was older, I could form thoughts then. My brother David and I were looking out of a window, watching Mum go to the mobile shop parked in the street. When she went inside and I couldn't see her anymore, I remember clearly thinking "Now there's only me, David and the baby left." Mum was shocked when I told her years later. She said Dad was in hospital and she told David and I to wait at the window while she went to buy milk, my little brother was about 6 months old so I would have been about 2½. I have other memories of being very young, some have been confirmed by my parents. The younger I seem to be in my memory, the brighter the colours. It annoys me when people say nobody can remember being in the womb or being born just because they don't remember and so they imagine it must be impossible. Why should memories only be stored in the brain? Jenny , Liverpool UK My first memory is prior to birth. I was in a small dark, yet comfortable place. Something strange was happening and it was scary as I was forced through a space I did not fit. My next memory is of being cold, wet, and there too much light. I have many other memories of the first year and at two and three years. All have been confirmed by my parents with details that could only be given by an eye witness. A few years ago my young cousin told me of her memories before birth. Finding this site and reading the accounts is a comfort. I agree with Jenny, it also annoys me when people do not believe in early childhood or pre-birth memories. It is a rationalization for not remembering. However, many people recall early memories but pass it off as imaginings. Josephine, Austin, Texas United States I don't remember being born, but I do remember things from early childhood. Places/people that would have been a part of my life. I spoke to my mam about one of the things that I remember that has left me with a huge fear of spiders... And I was 18 months old when this happened, my mam wouldn't believe me until I described the room I was in and who picked me up out of the pram etc. I would be interested to know if others have early memories from so young. Eileen, Dublin Scientists have discovered that a lot of things they thought they knew about the brain are false. The belief that one can't remember anything before 3 is ridiculous. Why would people make up memories? And a lot of these people haven't seen pictures or haven't been told stories about these memories yet they seem to recollect them. Some people have children who tell about their birth and when the kids cam describe a room and the colors in detail there is no way they are making it up. I remember getting my diaper changed and having cold cream rubbed on my bum. I standing in the crib and I also remember climbing out of it at 2 years old. I remember sitting in a bouncy chair and watching a bunny swing back and forth on swing saying "peek a boo!" on tv. I remember being rocked. I remember being sung to and I remember feeling loved. I have many early memories. I have two brothers and one sister. They both have vivid memory of their childhood as well. My brother remembers being in a car seat and being left alone outside and things crawling on him ( bugs) he remembers me carrying him out with me and my sister to play in the woods. We were often left unattended. We have some good and some bad memories and they are clear vivid ones. My other brother claims to have remembered a time before he was born and says he remembers being in the womb. He is also slightly autistic though. I never really believed him but after reading a lot of these posts I think he may be telling the truth. Lisa Goodwin, Friendswood United States I find it stranger that some people can't remember anything prior to the age of 8, or older! Why?? What a shame! Most earliest memories are from around age 4 or 5 aren't they? Mine is slightly unusual in that it dates back to around age 2. I remember collecting eggs from the chicken hut, banging my head on a beam and holding back the tears. My parents tell me I couldn't have been older than 2. I also remember the moment when music first had a powerful emotional effect, and I fell in love with bob marley then and there on the yard. I don't remember being born but I as a child I used to have a reccurring dream - the only reoccurring dream I've ever had - that I was someone else before I was born. A soldier. I can't explain the feeling I used to wake with, except the solid conviction that he was me. If these sound like the words of some weird new spiritualist, well, all I can say is that I have a degree in physics and I'm a science teacher! Sam, Bristol UK I'm 13, turning 14 on the 10th of March. Before I forget this, before I'm older and forget everything, I wanted to share it. I know, at the age 13, you'd already forget everything but I didn't, well not everything...yet. I remember being squeezed, and seeing purple. I don't know why purple, but I did. I may be just some freak, but anyways, I remember it being really cold. And I remember seeing something shiny, then I felt a sting. That's all really. But I also have a perfect memory of being in a crib. Then, standing up because the alarm clock was making noises. I kept crying and screaming but nobody heard me. Then, a faint shadow was talking to me saying something about "It's time for me to go" it said. And it said "They can't hear you, child" I know I wasn't crying because the alarm clock, I think it was because the shadow was leaving me. I don't know, I just thought id share that with you.. Rianna Monet, Bossier City United States I don't remember being born, but I strongly suspect that if I had been asked about it when a small child, I might have been able to then. And as reminded of early memories, I think they survive better. The 3 year limit one sees written about is patent nonsense, and the only thing one can really take from that is that it probably applies to the person who specified that. There is a distinction in my memories between what I can still remember and what I remember remembering, which is subtly different but still relevant. And I can clearly remember being in the cot in my parents room, which I was in for 6 months. I remember the dog coming in to see me early on and being shooed away by my mother, and the conversation I could then hear outside that he was only investigating what all the fuss was about but that he shouldn't be allowed in. I remember desperately trying to communicate that I wanted to see him too and that I was actually terribly bored (although not understood as that as such). However young I was, I couldn't even roll over. I think I was terribly, terribly small, possibly even actually new born. I have a lot of later memories still in that crib, and I remember remembering things from before that too. I just don't remember what they were. I do think there might be parallels between having early memories and intellect though. I think one is more likely to remember things the better ones understanding is. And better understanding comes with higher intellect. Without wanting to bang my own drum for the sake of it, I have an extremely high IQ and I was reading starter books long before I was 2. By the time I was 3, I had the reading facility of an intelligent adult. I don't think that is insignificant in that it means my brain was functioning very well, very early, and I was consciously aware of my world with that much more clarity too - hence the memories. Joanne, Winchester UK My first two memories of this life were in the womb. The first was my mother saying she did not know if she could do this again. She had just gotten 4 children out of diapers. She also helped my father on the farm. The next was realizing I was waiting to be borned. Something went through me and I clearly remember not wanting to come "back" again...Then I was born. The lights were bright and I could not see anything except the angels that were there to check on me. There were so many noises and chaos around me. Then I heard my mother's soft voice, "Oh, it's a girl!" The angels disappeared. The next memory I have is being set in a basket in the middle of the kitchen table with all my siblings staring at me and making funny noices. I remember wondering why this place chose to be so bright with harmful false lights and needed to have so much noise. Many more memories - but hopefully this will tell the reader - you do need to be respectful of your child's needs - before they are born. Jenny, lafayettte us I think some people's 'memories' and dreams could be an expression of how they felt at the time, or pure fabrication for attention (this could be something they are not even aware of). Also, people don't always know what information their children get and children have such wonderful imaginations and are always looking

theguardian.com - Is it possible to remember being born? | Notes and Queries

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