Welcome Nathalie Casso-Vicarini, you are an early childhood educator and founder and managing director of the association “Ensemble pour la petite enfance”. You took part in the film “Les premiers 1000 jours”, broadcast on November 21 on France 5.

Could you tell us a bit about this. As I understand that this experience directly inspired your book “Là où tout commence les 1000 premiers jours.”

Photo credit: “Ensemble pour la petite enfance”

Yes, indeed. The documentary is the story of a great adventure with five families, six babies and four people who were keen to support them. Dr Boris Cyrulnik, Professor Antoine Guedeney, Isabelle Filliozat and myself. This adventure was made possible thanks to the links we had forged with the town of Arras. In particular his mayor, and to professionals like Françoise and Aline who knew our families well at the “Maison des 1000 premiers jours”, which was the first house to support parenthood in this way. The families volunteered for this human adventure. We learned a lot from the families and today they tell us how happy they are to have taken part. It wasn’t at all easy for them because it was a big leap into unknown territory.

The book I wrote was intended to clarify and supplement what was said, and sometimes to correct certain shortcuts in the film.

It’s never easy. Because we sometimes have to deal with emotional issues with the parents and with the babies we’re accompanying. I remember, for example, a scene that made no sense at all ! Wanted to do a demonstration but the babies were sick with a high fever (39.5°C). I had three of them with me and I absolutely couldn’t express or say anything than what I really wanted to explain. The scene in the film doesn’t make much sense. So I included it in the book to really explain what self-awareness is with babies. This book comes at just the right time. Just after the film, to decipher the sequences, and also to talk about what went on behind the scenes of the film, how we got to know each other, why this story was woven at that time, in that place and with those people.

To talk more about the book, it’s a universal book published by “Odile Jacob” and “le cherche midi”. It is on the essentials of understanding those “first 1000 days”. Why does a baby have such a malleable, flexible and immature brain? To understand this, you need a lot of examples involving children. These are children living in 5 families. We followed 6 babies for 6 months. We really deciphered their daily lives and what they were exposed to. These first 1,000 days are the period during which environmental changes in development – or epigenetic changes – are most significant.

These will be markers of resilience particularly throughout life. There are a lot of lovely things in this book. It’s a wonderful adventure with these 6 babies who are evolving, accompanied by Antoine Guedeney, Isabelle Filliozat, Boris Cyrulnik and myself. It’s also interesting what the parents of this book are doing. We provide the information, we share it with the parents and they do something with it in their own way, from where they are and with their own culture. I think it’s a respectful approach, and that’s why the “Ensemble pour la petite enfance” association that I represent wants to support parents in this way.

You talked about babies’ consciousness, and we often imagine that a child’s psychological development begins on the day they are born. But if the first 1000 days are indeed decisive, the time ‘in utero’ also plays a part. So how can we prepare and anticipate the birth of a baby right from the womb?

That’s a big question. In fact, we came up with some common answers during the “First 1,000 Days Commission”, as 18 of us worked together to produce this report with French scientists on the development of the foetus and the little one during the first 1,000 days. Thanks to scientific research, we can see that everything starts much earlier than that. In fact, Quebecers start the first 1,000 days as soon as it is planned to have a baby. From that point on, you can already prepare the environment. That means, for example, stopping smoking or stopping using certain substances, so that the environment is ready to welcome this wonderful start to life. So, in utero, the foetus is already in indirect contact with the outside world. For example, maternal stress has a major impact on the development of the baby’s brain.

If we can surround this mother with special attention during this period of gestation, it’s very important, because when we act on the environment, as Dr Boris Cyrulnik puts it so well, we act on the foetus. Since the environment is going to act directly, the mother is going to act on the development of the foetus and also of the baby to be. So stress, just like exposure to endocrine disruptors or everyday toxins, is already going to have an impact on the development of this baby. Professor Antoine Guedeney always talks about being polite to babies. It’s a term I really appreciate. Admittedly, these babies are resilient, but the period during which they are most sensitive to environmental impact is roughly from the fourth month of pregnancy in utero until the child is two years old. So you can see that it starts early.

And would you have any recommendations for parents on how to get to know their child in utero and create a bond with him or her?

I’m a university lecturer in educational science and I’ve always been told: “You don’t teach parents to become parents, you help them, support them in their parenthood”. That’s something that’s always been with me and that I’ve been able to experience in other areas. I’ve worked in four countries. In Australia, I really completed my apprenticeship by working in a house for the first 1,000 days called a “cottage”. In fact, supporting parenthood is first and foremost about trusting parents. They are the ones who carry their baby and accompany him or her. We’ll be able to share scientific knowledge with them. But it’s a question of sharing it, not asserting it, and not making them learn things either. We share it with them, and everyone takes ownership of their knowledge, from their own place. That’s very important.

So, of course, you can start communicating with your baby as early as the first stages of pregnancy: by talking to your baby, by starting to invest in this relationship. The baby is very sensitive to this. As early as 27ᵉ weeks, we can see that in the womb, it reacts to external stimuli from life outside.

From birth, there are other questions that will arise. This is obviously not exhaustive, but these are questions that come up very often. First of all: breastfeeding?

Parents should not impose breastfeeding. It’s very important. Each woman and each couple must make their own choice. We can, however, share the benefits of breastfeeding for baby’s health. In the same way, whenever possible, a woman should choose her own way of giving birth. By going through the natural route, the baby picks up good bacteria in the passage and all this will contribute to its good development, its optimum development. So the important thing – and this is the approach we take in the first-day centres that are described in detail in this book – is to provide accurate, up-to-date, scientific information. Not beliefs, but information that has been verified, so that everyone can make an informed choice. That’s very important to us.

The following questions are always related to birth: what is the need for interaction? What is the role of the senses and, for example, what is the impact of skin-to-skin contact?

The “Kangaroo” practice demonstrates just how much skin-to-skin contact will enhance a baby’s development, particularly in the case of premature births. Imagine the shock of going from an aquatic environment to the outside world. Especially in today’s world, which is full of uncertainties, this world will send important signals and markers to very young babies. So we’re going to try as far as we can to ensure continuity of care and attention.

The mother carried the baby in warm, pleasant 37.5°C water. Keeping it lodged against the uterine wall at just the right body temperature. In fact, he was “in utero”, in tune with his mother’s heartbeat, which was very reassuring for him. Still, birth is quite a shock! He/she arrives in this outside world without ever finding what he/she knew in utero. So the more we can reproduce this world and ensure continuity with skin-to-skin contact, and let the baby experience what he has known for nine months, the better. Skin-to-skin is obviously against the skin of mum, dad or the second parent. The baby’s heartbeat will obviously make him/her feel more secure. He will be very beneficial to his/her development, particularly in the case of premature babies.

This interview is in two parts.

Read part 2 of this interview here.