Igor Charkovsky, the Russian male midwife, is known for helping pregnant women give birth underwater in the Black Sea 'aided' by dolphins. 'Dolphins have an affinity with the baby in the womb and are automatically attracted to pregnant women. They sense when a woman is about to give birth and gather round. They give both the mother and child a sense of protection and safety,' says Charkovsky.
Charkovsky began to experiment with dolphins and children in 1979 at a dolphin research station. He discovered that 9ft mammals were exceptionally gentle with the children, aged between eight days and eight years, allowing them to ride on their backs, and handling them with extraordinary care, under-standing and purposefulness.
More specifically he realised how powerfully beneficial the animals were for the newborn, who lay peacefully sleeping in the sea with the dolphins swimming around them. He concluded that dolphins through their benign energy take the stress off the baby and mother alike, during and after the birth.
Igor Charkovsky, 127254 Moscow, Rustaveli 15a, Kv61, CIS (tel 7095 219 5937). See also 'Dolphin Therapy' in this book, in the chapter on 'Death and Dying.'