Kinds of birth of human beings

TO many, the birthday of an individual is sig

birth. That is, after nine months of the gestation period of a woman, she will give birth to an infant.

In the Philippines, the year after the birth of an infant is con

birthday.

In contrast, the practice in South

Korea is that the physical birth of an infant is already designated

the whole gestation period is counted already — that is, from the day one of cellular birth to the actual physical birth.

To give light to this phenomenon, author Thomas Harris said “an individual, a human being, has been born in this world four times.”

Is that so? Yes, he has expounded on the four kinds of birth among human beings as follows: cellular birth, physical birth, psychological birth and social birth.

When a woman conceives a new organism, a new individual will be born — that is, a new life will emerge through fertilization, through the union of sperm and egg cells; thus, the process is called as the cellular birth. This is day one in the life of a human being.

From conception, the mother of the young individual will undergo the gestation period for nine months, more or less. During such period, the child will undergo full development until he is delivered as an infant.

Cellular birth. Physical birth. Psychological

An infant, after his delivery, will be subjected to a very different environment — from a very stable place in the womb of his mother to a very strange situation in the outside world. This is a chaotic period in the life of a newborn child. But once the child feels the

- ical birth will commence. This is the start of the formative period in the life of an individual.

After the formative at home, a period of

Social birth.

years

birth.

will be ready to deviate from his usual situation. When a child goes to school or left alone to mingle with other children, social birth will be realized.

What is the significance of knowing this phenomenon — the kinds of birth of human beings?

For cellular birth, since the contribution of parents to the inherited characteristics of the child is 50 percent each, then the process of selecting a partner in life is very crucial. The spouses are the main factor in shaping a new individual.

If intelligence is part of the dimensions intended for the offspring, then the humans must consider this in choosing their partners. Both the physical characteristics and innate beh a v i o r s of the wo u l d - be parents must be considered in the process of selection.

For physical birth, the health and disposition of the wouldbe mother must be given ample attention. Why? Because the would- be mother will provide all the necessary conditions and situations for the developing individual inside her womb.

So, the development of the emotional quotient of an individual depends on the moods of the gestating woman. With this, a would-be mother must provide favorable and positive attitude that would mold the behavior of the individual.

For psychological birth, the discussed positions in life in the previous articles titled “Four life positions of man” (Oct. 17, 2010) and “Are toddlers ready to learn at their age” (Oct. 3, 2019) previously published in this section of TheManilaTimes are substantive enough to be guides for parents from day one of the physical birth to the formative years of a child.

For social birth, all the inputs, training and experiences of the child gained at home during his formative years would be his guiding arms in dealing with the current environment, whether in the playground, at school, at parties and the like. His training at home will manifest in his outside world.

So, knowing the kinds of birth of an individual and giving due importance to each period will redound to developing a well-rounded individual — a human capital for his family and for the community that he belongs.

Dr.AntonioG.Papaisaretired universityprofessoratthe CollegeofEconomics,Management CaviteStateUniversityinIndang, Afterretirement, healsoservedasascientist1 andconsultantattheMarinduque Marinduque. Heisagraduate ofbothMasterofScienceand DoctorofPhilosophydegrees inExtensionEducationatthe UniversityofthePhilippines LosBaños,Lagunain1986and 1991,respectively.