Womb Life: Wonders and Challenges of Pregnancy, the Foetus' Journey and Birth

How does life before birth shape a baby's development? In this trailblazing book, leading psychotherapist Graham Music explores the latest scientific findings on pregnancy and the incredible life of the foetus. We see how mother and baby can bond while sharing one body and how a tiny foetus actively learns from its environment. We discover how pregnancy, and even parent's lives before conception, sculpt a babies' lifelong health, for example via the mother's diet, stress levels, and emotional state. In this transformative guide, therapeutic insights, real-life stories and new science show how life in the womb can enhance a child's potential, providing the best possible start for babies, long before their birth.

This is, without doubt, the most important book on pregnancy and 'womb life' I've ever read. It's rich in scientific detail, yet accessible and interesting. I followed the foetuses' journey gripped. Graham Music is a colossus in the world of child psychotherapy. I only wish he had written this book twenty years ago when I was pregnant! Annalisa Barbieri, Guardian columnist and podcaster

Graham Music has crafted an immensely readable book, richly infused with the voices and experiences of parents and professionals yet intertwined with accessible explanations of contemporary scientific research.  This book will deepen your knowledge about the emotional and physical transitions to babyhood and parenthood and will be of interest to anyone connected to the experiences of pregnancy, birth and bonding".  Dr Karen Bateson, Joint CEO, Oxford Parent-Infant Project


Very accessible, amazingly comprehensive, fascinating and a delight to read. This book opens a clear and comprehensive window into the hidden world of the womb. Music wonderfully weaves together, in the most accessible way, the psychoanalytic, neurological, cultural, psychological, recent research findings and most importantly the deeply personal accounts of mothers-to-be. He illuminates this world with his typical breath of understanding, humour, empathy and lovely personal touches. It is a "must have" for not only parents-to-be but also any professionals dealing with the mental health of a child, adolescent or adult. Our understanding of this "beyond words" world is greatly deepened by this addition to the literature.  Peter Blake, Director and Founder of  the Institute of Child and Adolescent Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy, Sydney and author of Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy (3rd ed 2021)

We have learnt so much in recent decades about Child Mental Health and Infant Mental Health, and now Graham Music has gone deeper still into an interest in pregnancy and the foetus.  With this book many mothers will be helped  to deal  with the complexities of pregnancy and many babies will be grateful that they were thought about well before they were born. '  Dilys Daws, Consultant Psychotherapist, Tavistock Clinic, Founder of the Association of Infant Mental health, UK and author of Parent-Infant Psychotherapy for Sleep problems (2020) and Finding your way with your Baby (2021)