the very situation he deplored.
With the assistance of a social worker, Grethe Hoff, and several orgonomic physi-
cians, Reich proceeded in a very careful way. The plan was to follow the research subjects
from early in pregnancy and the infants from their very first moments of life into adoles-
cence. In selecting mothers for the OIRC, Reich examined them psychiatrically to assess the
degree and kind of armoring. He also interviewed the husbands. In the initial discussions
with the prospective parents, he was particularly interested in exploring their ability to resist
familial pressure for circumcision or other destructive practices in child raising. I would also
note that Reich was always very careful to deal with the issue of what is now called
“informed consent” from research subjects. In general, he would let everyone—from
patients undergoing therapy, to assistants in scientific experiments, to parents in the OIRC
know as fully and honestly as the could about the possible risks as well as benefits (both per-
sonally and in terms of scientific knowledge) involved in their participation.
Reich also informed the parents about various alternatives for delivery and elicited
their own views on these. For physical reasons, he stressed, hospitals were safer than home
delivery, but emotionally it was of great importance for the baby to be with the mother right
after birth, something most hospitals did not permit at that time. Most parents elected to
have the delivery in hospitals where they could sometimes with great difficulty modify rou-
tine procedures.
Reich was ahead of his time in urging extreme caution about the use of medica-
tions during pregnancy since he was concerned about their possible effect on the embryo.
The times have caught up with him in this respect, but not with regard to his advice that
pregnant mothers use the orgone accumulator.
Reich hypothesized that the very act of carrying the embryo had an energetic effect
on the mother. As he once put it: “The fetus acts like a stove; it is another energy system in
the mother and it energizes the mother’s whole being.”^35 In one case, it could enhance the
mother’s genitality; in another, it could decrease it out of anxiety from the rise in the bio-
energetic level.
Reich was extremely critical of various obstetrical practices at the time of birth that
were considered routine during the 19405 though many are now being opposed. Some of
these practices were drugs to induce birth, particularly when such induction was based on
the doctor’s convenience; heavy sedation for the mother during labor when the need for it
was not clearly indicated; unnecessary use of forceps; and routine episiotomies.
To assist mothers in not requiring heavy medication, the OIRC tried to have an
orgone therapist in attendance at birth in order to help the mother breathe and relax.
Chester M.Raphael, a physician who worked with Reich, has well described how useful a
therapist can be in the delivery room.
The first mother he attended had been in labor for more than forty hours:
Her condition seemed desperate.I found her sitting up supporting herself
with her arms held rigidly against the sides of the bed, her face ashen, her lips cyan-23 : Psychiatric, Sociological, and Educational Developments: 1940-1950 309