The child is very open, and can feel the pain and suffering going on in its immediate environment. The child is aware of its own body and can also feel the tension, rigidity and pain in the body of the mother or of anyone else he’s with. If the mother is suffering, the baby suffers too. The pain never gets discharged. The organism does not develop the confidence that it can regulate itself, that things will happen the way they should. If the pain and frustration continue, they will have a disintegrating effect on the organism, and the child will begin to experience organismic fear for its very survival.
—A.H. Almaas