Orli Dahan

Tel Hai College, Department of General Studies, Education Departments

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I am currently focusing my research on childbirth and sexualities from an evolutionary point of view. I desire my research to have a more immediate impact on humankind, rather than theories that might not have real-world applications. Thus, I am now connecting my previous work on the fields of philosophy of mind and philosophy of science, to the areas of altered states of consciousness in psychology, education, and life sciences.

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Not Just Mechanical Birthing Bodies: Birthing Consciousness and Birth Reflexes

The Journal of Perinatal Education

There are two concepts of neuroendocrine reflexes associated with the expulsion of the fetus thro... more There are two concepts of neuroendocrine reflexes associated with the expulsion of the fetus through the birth canal during the second stage of birth: the Ferguson reflex and the fetus ejection reflex. These concepts are often confused with one another and treated synonymously, thus interchangeable. However, the two not only refer to different phenomena, but they also represent the birthing woman differently. The Ferguson reflex treats the birthing woman as simply a biomechanical body. In contrast, the fetus ejection reflex does not ignore women’s conscious states during birth and recognizes what is currently a well-known empirical fact: The event of birth is a complex biophysical process affected by many mental, social, and environmental factors. In that, it has a connection to the phenomenon of birthing consciousness, which is the positive altered state sometimes experienced during a physiological and undisturbed childbirth. We argue that birthing consciousness and the fetus eject...

Navigating intensive altered states of consciousness: How can the set and setting key parameters promote the science of human birth

Frontiers in Psychiatry, 2023

The subjective childbirth experience is crucial from a public health standpoint. There is a corre... more The subjective childbirth experience is crucial from a public health standpoint. There is a correlation between a negative childbirth experience and a poor mental state after birth, with effects that go far beyond the postpartum (PP) period. This paper offers a new approach as to how birthing experiences, and birth in general, can be navigated. The theory of set and setting proves that psychedelic experiences are shaped, first and foremost, by the mindset of an individual entering a psychedelic experience (set) and by the surroundings in which the experience happens (setting). In research on altered states of consciousness during psychedelic experiences, this theory explains how the same substance can lead to a positive and lifechanging experience or to a traumatic and frightening experience. Because recent studies suggest that birthing women enter an altered state of consciousness during physiological birth ("birthing consciousness"), I suggest analyzing the typical modern birthing experience in terms of set and setting theory. I argue that the set and setting key parameters can help design, navigate, and explain many psychological and physiological elements of the human birth process. Thus, an operative conclusion that emerges from the theoretical analysis presented in this paper is that framing and characterizing the birth environment and birth preparations in terms of set and setting is a central tool that could be used to promote physiological births as well as subjective positive birthing experiences, which is currently a primary, yet unreached goal, in modern obstetrics and public health.

Orli Dahan

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