Explore 19 (2023) 544–552

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EXPLORE
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jsch

Original Research

Near birth experience: An exploratory study on the communication

experiences with a hypothetical prenatal consciousness
Marie-Julia Guittier a, *, Helané Wahbeh b, Magali Eykerman c, Renaud Evrard d
a
School of Health Sciences Geneva, HES-SO University of Applied Sciences and Arts Western Switzerland, 1206, Geneva, Switzerland
b
Research Department, Institute of Noetic Sciences, Petaluma, California, United States
c
Independent researcher, Bruxelles, Belgium
d
Department of Psychology, Laboratory INTERPSY, University of Lorraine, 54015, Nancy, France

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: Context: Many cultures believe that the first traces of human consciousness during the incarnation may be present
Prenatal before birth. Practices based on this belief exist in many cultures. However, formal scientific inquiry into the
Consciousness possibility of communicating with prenatal consciousness has never been explored.
Fetus
Objective: To evaluate if it is possible to communicate with a hypothetical prenatal consciousness of the fetus
Anomalous communication
Pregnancy
during pregnancy.
Medium Design: This exploratory study used mixed methods and a triple-blind design. People (i.e., mediums) who could
allegedly communicate with eleven pregnant women’s prenatal consciousness (N=11) collected answers to ten
questions that were then verified from parental reports. Ten mediums participated, with three to eight mediums
providing answers per pregnant woman.
Results: More than 1,500 statements were generated from attempts to communicate with the prenatal con­
sciousness. Quantitative analysis showed higher agreement in spontaneously reported information versus re­
sponses to structured questions, 69.40%, and 17.63%, respectively. These results did not differ by the number of
mediums per pregnant woman (three to five versus six to eight). Qualitative analysis suggested that some ses­
sions resulted in verifiable communication with the prenatal consciousness, while others did not.
Conclusion: The results, while preliminary and requiring follow-up studies, suggest the possibility to interact with
a prenatal consciousness during pregnancy and the potential of novel scientific investigations into altered states
of consciousness.

Introduction gestational age4. In general, scientific evidence provides little informa­

Conceptions of embodiment
When does human consciousness become conscious? The ancient
philosopher Plato described the human mind arising as a tabula rasa, a
blank slate that is then shaped by its experiences1. Medical and scientific
advances have since made it possible to study prenatal psychology in
humans and animals, highlighting perceptual and learning abilities
before birth2 and possible vulnerabilities to mental disorders2. However,
due to the immature brain networks of a fetus and the sedation provided
by its immediate environment, it has been hypothesized that human
consciousness only really develops after birth3 or at earliest only after
the formation of thalamocortical connections around 24 weeks of
tion concerning the consciousness of a fetus and debate remains5,6.
In contrast, many traditional worldviews claim fetuses are conscious
and have7. In this worldview, intrauterine life goes hand in hand with an
array of care and rituals designed to ensure not only the proper bio­
logical but also the proper social development of the gestating child. The
human being would thus develop physically and emotionally, recog­
nized and confirmed in its humanity by its understanding of symbolic
acts. In a comparative analysis of 26 societies, Maurice Godelier8
demonstrated how each held assumptions that supernatural agents
intervene in pre-conception, conception, and pregnancy influencing the
prenatal consciousness. These different theories suggesting a more
developed prenatal consciousness than accepted in the Western scien­
tific tradition can lead to ideological and practical conflicts in sensitive

* Corresponding author at: HES-SO Délémont, Haute Ecole de Santé de Genève (HEdS), Avenue de Champel, 47, 1206, Genève, Geneva, Switzerland.
E-mail address: communicationprenatale@gmail.com (M.-J. Guittier).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.explore.2022.11.003
Received 13 October 2022; Received in revised form 18 November 2022; Accepted 22 November 2022
Available online 1 December 2022
1550-8307/© 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
M.-J. Guittier et al.
situations such as abortion, obstetrical complications, and infant dis­
abilities9. More generally, the idea that the fetus is already conscious can
alter attachment styles by enriching the parent-infant interaction10.
Such ideas about consciousness during fetal life are not limited to
non-Western societies11,12. Several Western works describe
pre-incarnation experiences13–16. These experiences have inspired ex­
plorations into adults’ pre-conception and pre- or near-birth memories
as well as interventions to connect with prenatal consciousness17,18.
These are based not only on prenatal psychology and medicine but also
on allegedly subtle forms of interaction such as mediumship.
Prenatal mediumship
Mediums are individuals that are purportedly able to communicate
with a deceased individual, suggesting that they can access that in­
dividual’s consciousness. In a standard mediumship reading, a medium
mediates communication between a client and an individual who has
passed away. The scientific study of mediumship began in the mid-19th
century when American spiritualism was in vogue and attracted the
attention of many physicists, philosophers, and physicians19. Verifying
phenomena such as necromantic practices that described interactions
between the world of the living and the dead played a critical intellec­
tual role in this period. Mediumship research has continued into the
present, with modern-day experiments incorporating essential meth­
odological refinements and finding significant positive results using
triple-blind laboratory procedures20. Although debate still exists (e.g.,
Rock et al., 2021; Sarraf et al., 2021), these studies have provided evi­
dence that information, at least some, as delivered by mediums is ac­
curate regardless of the true source of that information21–23.
Studies have also shown that experiences of supposed communica­
tion with the dead can be spontaneous, facilitated, assisted, or
induced24,25. In multiple worldwide surveys, 29 and 66% respondents
report personally experiencing perceived contact with the dead26. In a
bereavement context, subjective experiences of contact with the
deceased have an estimated prevalence of between 47 to 82% depending
on the study and culture27. These experiences are not always associated
with pathological forms of grief and may even support the grief process
and have health benefits24,28. Beliefs in the possibility of such contact
are also very high. In the United States, 33% of adults believe that the
living and the dead can communicate and 60% to 70% believe they will
survive after bodily death29. Belief in reincarnation ranges from 20% to
37% in Western or South American cultures30. In addition, millions of
people from all religious and spiritual backgrounds report conscious
sensory, emotional, or cognitive memories while declared clinically
dead or out of their body31. While these phenomena are largely
considered hallucinations or other forms of pathology by contemporary
medicine31, many agree that much remains to be discovered about these
ubiquitous human experiences and that they are deserving of serious
scientific investigations32.
Increasing research has examined end-of-life phenomena and
communication with the deceased. However, to our knowledge, no
research has evaluated the other end of the consciousness spectrum: the
prenatal period. With verifiable reports of reincarnation, where con­
sciousness persists from one life to another, and near-death experience
survivors describing consciousness after death, then perhaps there is
some consciousness level of a fetus that can be accessed. While the idea
of prenatal consciousness is ubiquitous in many traditions and is based
on widely held beliefs and experiences, it has yet to be systematically
investigated. In many cultures, some practitioners claim to be able to
communicate both with disincarnate and not-yet-incarnate entities.
Thus, Western mediums may be interested in challenging the theoreti­
cally limited scope of their own abilities. Therefore, this study — using
both quantitative and qualitative analyses — aims to test the hypothesis
that mediums are likely to obtain information about a hypothetical
prenatal consciousness and its family without obtaining any clues by
ordinary means (i.e., through the traditional senses). We note that the
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EXPLORE 19 (2023) 544–552
parapsychological study of prenatal consciousness does not allow for
direct statements about the prenatal consciousness level, but it may
provide useful information for consideration in this topic’s discussion.
Methods
Study design
This exploratory study used quantitative and qualitative methods in
a triple-blind design to evaluate the correspondence between a me­
dium’s communication with a hypothetical prenatal consciousness and
information obtained from parental reports.
Participants: Eligibility and recruitment
Pregnant women were invited to participate if they were in the
second or third trimester of pregnancy, without any fetal pathology at
the time of recruitment, if they spoke French and were above 18 years
old. They could be primigravida or multigravida, single or with a part­
ner. Partners of the women were also encouraged to participate in all
study procedures.
Parents were recruited using a snowball sampling method by having
independent midwives provide written study information during pre-
and ante-natal classes, and the participants themselves gave the infor­
mation about the study to prospective parents they knew. Study staff
conducted informed consent procedures, allowing ample time for vol­
unteers to ask questions and consider their participation. In total, eleven
women were included.
Ethical considerations
This study was determined by the ethics committee in Switzerland to
not fall within the purview of the Swiss Research Act, Article 2 (Req-
2020-01006). Ethical considerations were implemented: 1) data was
collected confidentially and stored securely on a dedicated server
accessible by only the host institution’s principal investigator, 2) the
transcriber signed a confidentiality contract, 3) participant blinding
precluded the identity of the participants being revealed to the me­
diums, 4) parents were advised of the highly exploratory nature of the
study, and 5) parents did not receive the mediumistic session report to
avoid any influence on or interference with parental choices. Finally,
because of the study’s exploratory nature and limitations, we were very
cautious in result interpretation.
Mediums: Recruitment and characteristics
Mediums were recruited using snowball sampling through recom­
mendations of the study team and media coverage. Mediums completed
a short questionnaire to identify their characteristics. Ten mediums
(mean age 53 years old SD 13; range 29-69; Female – 9) from various
countries (Switzerland - 6, France - 2, US - 1, Canada - 1) were used for
the study.
Data collection
Data was collected through: 1) parental interviews and question­
naires, and 2) mediumistic sessions with the hypothesized prenatal
consciousness (Fig. 1). Parental interviews were conducted online and
lasted 30 to 60 minutes. Interviews were recorded and transcribed
verbatim by a professional transcriber. Our semi-structured interviews
provided nine discrete variables regarding the prenatal consciousness
and five discrete variables regarding each parent, for a total of 19
variables.
Phase 1: Parental interview 1
Study staff conducted a semi-structured parental interview to
M.-J. Guittier et al.
Fig. 1. Data collection periods
document: 1) reason to have a child; 2) sensory and affective in­
teractions of parents and their fetus; 3) pregnancy course; 4) knowledge
of baby’s sex; 5) first name choice; 6) daily parental environment; 7)
presence of siblings or pets; 8) parents’ physical description, professions,
and hobbies; and 9) any other information they wanted to share about
the pregnancy. Some partners were present for this interview.
Phase 2: Medium communication session 1
Three to eight mediums conducted communication sessions for each
participant during the month after parental interviews. Medium number
varied based on their availability post-parental interview. Mediums
were given only a test number. Some mediums requested other personal
information, which was only approved if the information would not
break the blind. Provided information included parents’ first names, a
first trimester fetal ultrasound, and recording of the mother’s voice.
They were instructed to follow a structured interview focusing on sim­
ple, tangible, and easily verifiable information that would later be
compared with the information obtained in the parental interview (see
Appendix A). For example, mediums invited the hypothetical prenatal
consciousness to “speak” of its parents (e.g., physical description,
character, job, place of life); possible existing sibling; their biological
sex; and their potential first name. Mediums were encouraged to report
any other information they received. Mediums compiled their written or
audio reports in full autonomy, blinded to the parents and to the other
mediums.
Phase 3: Parent questionnaire
After the medium session, parents completed a questionnaire asking
about their demographics, physical description, and character traits. For
the character traits, 45 adjectives (e.g., anxious, manual, self-confident,
solitary) were listed in table and parents circled ones they identified
with.
Phase 4: Parental interview 2
Study staff interviewed the parents to document the course of the
pregnancy, the birthdate projection, and to verify extra information
obtained during the mediumistic session beyond the scope of the ques­
tions included in the structured interview.
Phase 5: Medium communication session 2
The objectives of a second medium session were to: 1) receive an­
swers for the same questions used in the first interview, and 2) collect
exploratory unverifiable data such as the description of the incarnation
process, methods of communication with parents, possible life mission,
and any other message the prenatal consciousness would like to convey,
especially about the study.
Post-partum period follow-up
Childbirth data, baby’s biological sex, and first name were collected
by e-mail or short interview in the early post-partum period.
Analyses
Three scientific researchers from the research team (MJG-RE-ME)
carried out the quantitative and qualitative analysis.
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EXPLORE 19 (2023) 544–552
Quantitative analysis
Statistical analyses were performed using Open Source Epidemio­
logic Statistics for Public Health (OpenEpi)33. The number of mediums
who gave a correct answer to each verifiable structured item and the
percentage out of the total possible are presented in Table 2. These
scores were compared to mean chance expectations for all verifiable
structured items using binomial probability. The number of structured
items and spontaneous responses reported by all mediums as correct,
false, or unverifiable are listed in Table 3. Finally, we evaluated the
accuracy rate per pregnant woman by the number of mediums
attempting communication by categorizing participants into two
groups: those who received readings from three to five mediums and
those who received readings from six to eight mediums. A Fisher’s Exact
Test was used to determine differences between these two groups. A
p-value of < .05 was considered significant.
Qualitative analysis
Confidence strength of correspondence. Parental interview transcripts and
questionnaires were cross-checked with the mediumistic session data to
assess convergent elements. Confidence strength in correspondence was
assessed with a 5-level coding system and consensus reached through
discussion, if necessary, for the three evaluators:
1 Strong: Obvious evidence coming from spontaneous or indirect
validation by parent data.
2 Moderate: Evidence subject to an interpretation by the researchers
due to variability in the wording or assumptions about symbolic
meanings.
3 Weak: Matching through a confirmation that may include a potential
suggestion bias or Barnum-like effects (i.e., people recognizing their
own unique personality traits when general personal interpretations
are presented (Dickson and Kelly, 1985; p. 367)).
4 Wrong: Obvious error or contradictory information.
5 Unverifiable.
Correspondence evaluation was conducted by two researchers (MJG
and RE or MJG and ME), then blindly assessed by the third (RE or ME).
Examples for each coding level are provided in the Results section.
Content analysis. Statements from the mediumistic sessions were
compared with statements from the parents to extract similar topic
statement pairs. The two statements were then classified for how well
they corresponded with each other according to first three confidence
levels listed above (i.e., strong, moderate, or weak). For example, a
statement from the mediumistic session about the child’s first name was
compared to a statement from the parent about the first name and a
correspondence rating made. These content ratings differed from the
strength of correspondence ratings defined above in that they were
focused on content rather than accuracy.
Procedures to reduce biases
Procedures to reduce bias were based on recommendations noted in
previous mediumship studies34–37. Regarding data assessment, we
applied a triangulation of correspondence judging in order to reinforce
the strength of our analyses, with one researcher blind to the others’
assessments. Our coding was sensitive to suggestion bias, Barnum-like
M.-J. Guittier et al. EXPLORE 19 (2023) 544–552

effects, and post-hoc confirmation biases. Therefore, we differentiated
data on which a statistical analysis could be applied from data that was
determined to be more qualitative. In addition, there were three levels of
blinding (triple-blind): 1) Mediums never met the parents and no iden­
tifiable information was provided to the mediums. 2) Mediums did not
know each other and had no possibility to exert any influence on each
other’s reports. 3) Parents were blinded to the mediums and the PI
communicated all mediumistic information to the parents.
Results
Sociodemographic data of parents
Eleven pregnant women and their partners were included in the
study (Table 1). No participants dropped out of the study. Most partic­
ipants resided in Switzerland, were of European origin, in the age range
26 to 35 years, with a balanced education between secondary and uni­
versity level.
The first interviews of parents took place between 18 and 36 weeks of
amenorrhea (WA). The second interview took place between 26 and
37WA+6 days.
0.0001) had significant negative hit rates. Overall, the mediums per­
formed significantly below chance.
Qualitative verifiable statements
The correspondence judging of the qualitative verifiable question
responses (Appendix A) and spontaneous responses (n = 1,553) resulted
in 31.10% being judged correct, 13.72% false and 55.18% unverifiable
(Table 3).
Excluding unverifiable data which will not be analyzed in this article,
we found 483/696 (69.40%) true statements versus 213/696 (30.60%)
wrong statements. There was no difference in correct answers if more
mediums provided responses for the test (3-5 mediums = 97/129
(75.19%) vs. 6-8 mediums 386/567 (68.08%), p = 0.14). Among the
accurate answers, the confidence level ratings (strong/moderate/low)
were mostly strong (71.01%), followed by the moderate (24.84%), then
the low (4.14%) (Table 4).
A comparison of similar statements from the mediumistic sessions
and the parents are listed in Table 5.
Discussion

Medium communication session accuracy and correspondence Main Findings

We expected approximately 1,219 statements. In addition, we This is the first, albeit exploratory, study to assess a medium’s ability
collected 334 spontaneous statements. Thus, 1,553 statements were to communicate with hypothetical prenatal consciousness. While all
evaluated. To analyze whether all collected statements matched verifi­ mediums in the study reported successfully communicating with almost
able elements of reality, we separated them into the following cate­ all the fetuses, our quantitative analyses of the structured interview
gories: 1) finite quantities (e.g., the pregnancy trimester); 2) qualitative revealed a hit rate of 17.63% (i.e., 215 successes out of 1,219 theoretical
but verifiable; and 3) qualitative but unverifiable. trials; Table 3). Thus, approximately only one in six responses were
judged correct. The proportion of information validated as correct was
Quantitative verifiable statements higher when including spontaneously provided information than with
predetermined question answers alone. However, accurate statements
As not all mediums contributed equally to all tests, and some failed to represented only a small portion of the total statements made. The
provide a second communication attempt in some cases. Thus, a total of mediums also never obtained certain precise information, such as the
137 attempts to communicate with a prenatal consciousness are chosen first name of the expected child. However, when considering
included, most mediums reported that a communication occurred. Three only the verifiable information obtained by mediums, 69.40% of the
mediums reported a lack of response for three different women. Me­ statements were determined to be accurate. While not conclusive, our
diums were not required to do all ten sessions and thus, there are varying results provide the first scientific evidence suggesting the possibility of
mediumistic sessions for each participant (Table 2). The number of communicating with a hypothesized prenatal consciousness.
mediums reading for each participant was mean 6.36 ± 1.57 (range 3 to Concerning the low hit rate for the information obtained using the
8) (Table 2). Across all sessions, mediums provided 17.36% (range structured interview, statement discrimination sometimes meant
11.58% to 29.41%) correct statements. Term of gestation had a signif­ compiling convergent statements. For example, one medium described
icant positive hit rate (44% vs. 33% expected, p = 0.016). However, the the mother’s passion for dancing and knitting but gave no information
question concerning the chosen child’s name (37% vs. 50% expected, p about the mother’s physical appearance, temperament, profession, or
= 0.009) and if the child was the first (28% vs. 50% expected, p = first name. Given the interview structure, the hobby information
(despite describing two hobbies accurately) counted for one correct
Table 1 answer. Thus, some correct statements were not counted. Also, the
Sociodemographic characteristics of the parents method of counting accurate responses compared to a theoretically ex­
Mothers N¼11 Partners N¼11 pected number of correct answers did not reflect that the mediums were
not obliged to answer each interview question. Our analysis method
Ethnic origin*
Europe 8 9
only approximates the ratio of factual statements to total statements. In
North America 4 2 general, these methods may slightly underestimate the number of ac­
Africa 1 0 curate statements. In addition, the low hit rate (i.e., 17.63%) does sug­
Country of residence gest that there was no cheating in this triple-blind protocol as the results
Switzerland 9 9
could be expected to be more impressive if mediums had relied on or­
Canada (Québec) 2 2
Age categories (years) dinary channels to research information on the participants.
≤ 25 2 0 Using the binomial distribution, we compared the results obtained
26- 35 7 7 with what would be expected from chance for the four forced-choice
≥ 36 2 4 interview questions. The significant positive result for gestation
Education level
Superior 5 4
trimester prediction should be interpreted with caution because it was
University 6 7 an inclusion criterion that, although unknown to the mediums, could
Parity have been rationally guessed. Indeed, pregnancy is most usually iden­
First child 5 4 tified in the middle of the first trimester. Choosing to participate in a
Second or more child 6 7
scientific study usually implies having passed this critical period.
*
Several responses possible Furthermore, the mediums were significantly less likely than chance to

547
 M.-J. Guittier et al.
Table 2
Number of correct answers per number of attempts at mediumship for the verifiable structured questions
Test number 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Total of Hit rate%; p
hits MCEa value

Number of mediums involved in 3 8 8 8 7 7 6 5 5 6 7 70

each participant
TERM OF GESTATION Are you in the early, middle or late stages of gestation? (First, second or third trimester of gestation)
3 6 4 2 1 1 4 1 0 5 4 31 44%; 33% 0.016
SEX AND FIRST-NAME OF THE CHILD
Do you know if you will be a male or 3 6 4 4 2 2 4 2 4 4 3 38 54%; 50% 0.989
a female?
Have your biological parents already 3 2 1 1 2 5 2 3 4 1 2 26 37%; 50% 0.009
chosen a name for you? yes/no
If « yes », Who decided? 0 1 0 1 NAb 1 0 0 NA 1 NA 4 NA NA
Under which circumstances? 0 0 0 0 NA 0 1 0 NA 0 NA 1 NA NA
Can you give it to us? 0 0 1 2 NA 0 0 0 NA 0 NA 3 NA NA
SIBLINGS
Are you the first child of your host 1 1 2 2 2 2 1 1 2 4 2 20 28%; 50% 0.0001
parents (yes/no)
548

If ‘no’, how many were before you? NA 1 NA NA 1 0 0 0 NA 2 1 5 NA NA

Can you describe them? NA 0 NA NA 1 0 0 0 NA 0 1 2 NA NA
PARENTS What can you tell us about your biological parents that we can verify?
Mother
Physical description 0 0 1 1 0 3 2 0 1 1 0 9 NA NA
Temper 2 3 2 2 3 1 2 2 3 3 4 27 NA NA
Hobbies 0 2 1 3 1 1 2 0 0 0 4 14 NA NA
Profession 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 1 0 4 NA NA
First name 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 NA NA
Partner
Physical description 0 1 2 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 6 NA NA
Temper 2 1 4 0 0 1 0 1 1 4 1 15 NA NA
Hobbies 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 4 NA NA
Profession 0 1 1 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 5 NA NA
First name 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 NA NA
#correct / total possible 15/51 25/152 24/136 20/136 14/112 18/133 19/108 11/95 17/70 26/114 26/112 215 /1219
n/n (%) (29.41) (16.44) (17.65) (14.71) (12.50) (13.53) (17.59) (11.58) (24.29) (22.81) (23.21) (17.63)
a
MCE Mean Chance Expectancy
b
NA Non Applicable

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M.-J. Guittier et al. EXPLORE 19 (2023) 544–552

Table 3 Table 5
Accuracy of all data reported by mediumistic session Matching between parents’ and fetuses’ statements
Truea Total Wrongb Unverifiablec Total Quotes from the medium’s reports Quotes from the parents’ CL1
interviews
n (%) n (%) n (%) n
Test 1 39 (53.42%) 3 (4.11%) 31 (42.47%) 73 Gender
Test 2 66 (30.84%) 34 (15.89%) 114 (53.27%) 214 I have the soul and energy of a man. It’s a son. 1
Test 3 66 (29.6%) 32 (14.35%) 125 (56.05%) 223 (Test 7)
Test 4 37 (23.42%) 25 (15.82%) 96 (60.76%) 158 For me, she (the mother) knows that As the pregnancy progressed, I was 1
Test 5 38 (26.76%) 19 (13.38%) 85 (59.86%) 142 I am a girl. (Test 3) more and more drawn towards
Test 6 32 (24.81%) 23 (17.83%) 74 (57.36%) 129 having a girl, I had more ideas of
Test 7 49 (35.25%) 17 (12.23%) 73 (52.52%) 139 what to call a girl, I had more
Test 8 19 (22.89%) 17 (20.48%) 47 (56.63%) 83 decorations for a girl’s bedroom, I
Test 9 39 (32.23%) 12 (9.92%) 70 (57.85%) 121 had like, more of a desire to have a
Test 10 49 (35.77%) 13 (9.49%) 75 (54.74%) 137 girl rather than a boy, so that...
Test 11 49 (36.57%) 18 (13.43%) 67 (50%) 134 finally we knew it was a girl!
Total 483 (31.10%) 213 (13.72%) 857 (55.18%) 1553 She is very, very proud that it is a There is this pattern in my family 2
a boy. (Test 1) that the eldest is always the girl and
Included in “Strong” level of evidence (Obvious evidence coming from the second is the boy. My
spontaneous or indirect validation by the parents); “Moderate” level of evidence grandmother, my mother,
(Evidence subjected to an interpretation by the researchers, because of vari­ fortunately we escaped this pattern.
ability in the wording or symbolic meanings of the assumptions); “Low” level of First name of the future baby
evidence (Matching through a confirmation that may include a potential sug­ My name starts with the letter « T ». [Correct, but not reported for 1
gestion bias or barnum-like effects) (Test 3) privacy.]*
b
“Wrong”: Obvious error or antagonist evidence For the choice of my first name, I see [Choice of the first name:]* It 1
c a book, a first name that caught happened like that by turning the
“Unverifiable assumptions”
their attention and that was pages of a name book.
written. (Test 11)
[Have your biological parents No, we’re not yet... we’re a bit 1
Table 4 already chosen a name for you?]* stuck... we haven’t found a name yet.
Confidence in correspondence of verified items No, no name yet. (Test 10)
For the first name, I just had the « L » [The first name starts with an L and 2
True code 1a True code 2b True code 3c True Total
as important in the first name, a has three more letters.]*
n (%) n (%) n (%) n big « L » and the number three.
Test 1 22 (56.41%) 14 (35.9%) 3 (7.69%) 39 (Test 5)
Test 2 53 (80.3%) 13 (19.7%) 0 (0%) 66 Something to do with stars. (Test 11) [The first name is effectively a name 2
Test 3 49 (74.24%) 16 (24.24%) 1 (1.52%) 66 of a star, not reported for privacy.]*
Test 4 29 (78.38%) 8 (21.62%) 0 (0%) 37 Parent Characteristics
Test 5 21 (55.26%) 12 (31.58%) 5 (13.16%) 38 She has... it’s something she likes I do have a diamond piercing on one 1
Test 6 22 (68.75%) 10 (31.25%) 0 (0%) 32 very much, a diamond earring, ear.
Test 7 32 (65.31%) 15 (30.61%) 2 (4.08%) 49 very shiny, that she seems to wear
Test 8 16 (84.21%) 2 (10.53%) 1 (5.26%) 19 in one ear and not the other. (Test
Test 9 26 (66.67%) 10 (25.64%) 3 (7.69%) 39 10)
Test 10 39 (79.59%) 9 (18.37%) 1 (2.04%) 49 Mum used to worry about her kilos, I was worried because for the first 1
Test 11 34 (69.39%) 11 (22.45%) 4 (8.16%) 49 now she just lets it go. (Test 2) one, I gained 35 kilos that I never
Total 343 (71.01%) 120 (24.84%) 20 (4.14%) 483 really managed to lose. At the end of
a
this pregnancy, I must have put on
“Strong” level of evidence: Strong: Obvious evidence coming from sponta­ something like 5 kilos.
neous or indirect validation by the parents My father, I see him with straight, Yes, I have straight brown hair. 1
b
“Moderate” level of evidence: Evidence subjected to an interpretation by the black, deep hair. (Test 10)
researchers, because of variability in the wording or symbolic meanings of the My mum eats spicy food... (Test 6) Yes, I wondered if I should cut back 1
assumptions [laughs].
c
“Low” level of evidence: Matching through a confirmation that may include I would like to tell mum and dad that My husband is very, very, very 1
they should stop worrying about sporty, he wants to run with the
a potential suggestion bias or barnum-like effects
the pushchair. The model they’d baby, so he needs a special
like so much will arrive, and it will pushchair. Not all pushchairs are
accurately report the parent’s chosen first name or if it was their first be ready in time, and I know it’s suitable for running. And running on
child. These results do not support an anomalous communication be­ Dad who will make a point of all surfaces, whether it’s in the street,
having found that modern pram as in the woods and all that, so you
tween the mediums and a prenatal consciousness. However, expecting
he calls it. (Test 3) need a special pram. ... We shopped
an accuracy level higher than that observed, may have been an unre­ for days and days and days.
alistic overestimation of mediumistic skills under the imposed experi­ The father’s temperament is more [The father wrote “sporty+++” in 2
mental conditions. active, (enterprising)*, and a the auto-administered questionnaire
Including structured interview and spontaneous responses, a ma­ certain vigor emanates from his for parents’ description and the
energy (Test 9) mother said:]* He’s very sporty, he
jority of the statements (i.e., 55.18%) could not be verified (Table 3). likes it, he’s part of a football team,
Some were too vague or symbolic; others involved verification proced­ he rides a bike... so there you go, he’s
ures outside the scope of the study. This unverifiable data will be re­ rather sporty.
ported in a separate study. For interview questions, we expected this I want to tell you about my dad [About becoming a father again:]* I 2
because I feel he is very involved. am lucky this time to be able to get
proportion because only half could be verified (Appendix A). Due to
(Test 10) involved and live it in a natural and
ethical considerations, we also did not verify some information that voluntary way.
could have been. For example, a medium stated a father was “not very My mum is a “sponge” she feels a lot Yeah, totally, totally. 3
present in the pregnancy” and described a mother as “hyper-control­ of things that she doesn’t always
ling.” We did not confirm such information with parents to protect them know what to do with because she
doesn’t trust herself in this area.
from possible psychological repercussions. Our primary concern was to (Test 1)
consider the psychological impact of this type of consultation, which 3
many health professionals warn against38,39. We believe the procedures (continued on next page)

549
M.-J. Guittier et al.
Table 5 (continued )
Quotes from the medium’s reports
And then also, she is very attentive to
food. (Test 11)
Siblings’ characteristics
Are you the first child of your host
parents? No, there has already
been a fetus in this womb. (Test
11)
She (the older sister) also has a lot of[About the older sister:]* It’s an
energy, like me, but it’s a different incredible, incredible life energy.
energy. She has everything going
on all the time. She is always in
excess. (Test 11)
I also feel a third person is important She [the older sister]* is very, very
and very close to the family/
couple. (Test 10)
Relationship between the fetus and the parents
I have a special bond with my dad, a
great connection with dad (Test 7)
She must keep talking to me even in
her head because I understand and
that helps me a lot, a lot. (Test 3) understands me, that she hears me.
She’s not having much success
communicating with her parents
on Earth.
(Test 4)
Our dreams are a godsend of
encounters and joy. (Test 3)
The soul transmits to me that it has
given itself a kind of challenge
regarding the choice of its parents. restrictions due to Covid-19.]*
And I sense a lot of willpower in
this decision that he probably had
to demonstrate. (Test 11)
Course of the pregnancy
This is not an easy pregnancy. (Test
6)
I am rather near the end of my
gestation period. (Test 10)
The baby comes to find the joy of
vibrating to music. (Test 4)
I’m a (happy)** baby, very dynamic
and besides my mum felt it during
all these months. (Test 9)
There are lots of little hands that
have been on my head during my
gestation. (Test 9)
There are memories inscribed in this
body, (related to past lives)**. And abnormality, not seen on ultrasound
that she will arrive with these
memories, marks, to remember.
(Test 5)
Feeling that there was another
beginning of life in this present
womb. (Test 2)
Quotes from the parents’
interviews
Yes, it’s just that I pay a lot of
attention to it.
[This is the second child.]
She was walking at nine and a half
months... She’s been riding a scooter
since she was fifteen months old, she
has an amazing micro dexterity...
She is amazing.
happy to be an older sister, she’s
been waiting for this for ages.
I’ve had a sort of trigger with dreams
that I have almost every other day
where I’m in conversation with him,
but in my dreams.
I talk to her more in my head. Then I
take it for granted that she
I have a bit of trouble, I would say,
trying to bond with my baby a lot.
So, from time to time, I touch my
belly and I try, when I’m alone at
home, to feel him, or to talk to him
but it’s not often because I’m not
used to doing it and I don’t
necessarily feel comfortable.
My partner, he said he saw it several
times in his dreams.
[Medically assisted procreation
process abroad, in times of health
We were there: let’s go. We’re going!
And we had to make so many trips.
For us it was difficult every time. It
was like going, I don’t know where,
to Timbuktu, it took us 9 hours, 12
hours, it was very, very complicated
but we still... we were really
motivated...
I find this pregnancy physically more
difficult. I feel like the pains are
much stronger. I’m quite tense... I
tell him: I’m sorry because I’m so
tense.
[39 weeks of amenorrhea.]*
I have always grown up with music
and...with music. I listen to a lot of
music, and I think it’s also a good
way for the baby to learn.
He’s rather agitated because he’s a
baby who moves a lot, even the
gynecologists point out to me that
he’s still a very lively baby.
[Breech fetus.]*
[This child was born with a physical
during pregnancy.]*
We were afraid to lose it because I
lost a lot of blood during the second
month of my pregnancy.
The next day, the blood clot was like
a piece of rubbish... The size of an
EXPLORE 19 (2023) 544–552
Table 5 (continued )
CL1 Quotes from the medium’s reports Quotes from the parents’ CL1
interviews
There were even several of us, but I orange....I thought it was the child of
am the only one who grew up. course..., or I’m having a miscarriage
(Test 7)
1 Chilbirth
I’ll be there just in time, anyway. [Labor started on the day of term; 1
(Test 10) baby born the next day.]*
The month of “November” appears. [Childbirth in November.]* 1
2 It will be cool when I am born, but
not in the middle of winter.
Towards autumn. (Test 4)
He tells me about something during [Baby was born in a summer 2
the summer. (Test 8) month.]*
It will be a special birth. (Test 7) [He was born in the water and was 2
born “capped*”, which is very
2 rare.]*
Other
Two creatures participate in this [Indeed, two mediums made a 1
scientific research by communication with this fetus on the
1 communicating with me now. same day.]*
(Test 4)
It’s a new cradle but it reminds me of Yes, it’s in the old style. 3
a cradle when she was a little
1 mum. (Test 5)
He spoke to me about moving, about There’s this desire to leave, to 3
moving to a new place or a new move... there’s quite a lot of desire to
2 home, about change. And I’m also leave where you are for many things
happy that we can move. (Test 9) but not necessarily right away... it’s a
project...
He talks about marriage. Something It’s funny because we were talking 3
very joyful. (Test 9) about it yesterday (about marriage,
one day...). I said: “Oh, when do I get
my ring? And we often tease each
other, we know it’s going to happen
2 in the next few years.
1
2 Confidence level of confidence (CL)
*
Comments of the authors or mediums
**
Inaccurate or unverifiable data
were a positive experience for all participants, none of whom dropped
out of the study. We also contacted couples one year later, and none
expressed any discomfort regarding their participation.
Considering only the verifiable information, 69.40% of all state­
ments were accurate. Our qualitative analyses revealed that this accu­
rately communicated information was often interesting. For example,
1 one medium provided information linking the future baby to the stars. In
fact, the intended baby’s name was that of a star. While the parents were
impressed by this qualitatively surprising communication, this state­
ment only received a moderate confidence rating since it required some
1 interpretation from the judges. Furthermore, a medium’s accurate
statements were more often overwhelmed by incorrect or unverifiable
1 statements. However, given the intriguing nature of some of the accurate
information revealed in our content analysis and the higher hit rate of
the verifiable information, evaluating the medium’s report as a whole
1 sometimes gave the impression that a medium might be right on target.
Our qualitative analysis also revealed that the most accurate infor­
mation provided by mediums corresponded to information parents
knew. Therefore, mediums may have received their information from
2
the parents’ minds rather than from the hypothesized prenatal con­
sciousness (See Baptista et al., 2015 for a review of laboratory studies of
2 this phenomena). The fact that the mediums had no visual or auditory
contact with the parents was a way to reduce the risk of cold reading by
the parents40. However, this study does not allow assertions that the
medium’s information source is the prenatal consciousness itself.
2
Reincarnation, the Parent-Child Bond, and Lost Twins
2
Two participating sets of parents had a child who had previously died
(one during the third trimester of pregnancy and one in the early
550
M.-J. Guittier et al.
postpartum). Both were convinced that the current pregnancy was the
deceased child returning. The mediums were unaware of this back­
ground and yet reported information suggestive of this possibility. In
one family, the child had died just prior to the current pregnancy. In the
other, two children had been born since the child’s death five years
earlier. For this later family, the conviction regarding the return of the
deceased child had not manifested itself during the two intervening
pregnancies but was now certain. The father, who was not the deceased
child’s father, reported: “I had a dream and that’s when he came to talk
to me. We were at a table, it was a kind of open space, there was no desk,
we were on a table, it was in a tower, skyscraper, we were talking. He
was well dressed and everything, and then he said to me: ‘I am your
future son, I am the reincarnation of (name of the deceased child), so I
am the soul of ... who is coming back.’” In this case, the medium re­
ported: “The baby’s soul came to introduce itself to the mother five years
ago,” and “The soul comes to find the mother’s energy.” This anecdotal
evidence suggests that studying communication experiences with a
prenatal consciousness may be a means to study reincarnation30,41,42.
We now know that the negative impact of stressful events on preg­
nant women can be expressed decades later in their adult children43–46.
While the subtle connection between the pregnant mother and child
would likely not be refuted by many, the mechanism of that connection
is not fully understood. Epigenetics is starting to give us answers, but
much remains to be discovered47. Here, we collected several commu­
nications related to an emotional interconnection between the pregnant
woman and fetus that were then validated by the mother herself. For
example: “Mum used to worry about her kilos,” “I would like to tell mum
and dad that they should stop worrying about the pushchair,” “She must
keep talking to me even in her head because I understand and that helps
me a lot, a lot,” and “This is not an easy pregnancy.” Communications
concerning the fathers were also noted such as: “I want to tell you about
my dad because I feel he is very involved,” and “I have a special bond
with my dad, a great connection with dad.” This suggests the need to
study the father-child prenatal connection.
A few mothers reported a history of vaginal blood loss in the early
weeks of pregnancy leading to fears of miscarriage that converged with
medium reports that the fetus had not been alone in early pregnancy. For
instance: “There was another beginning of life in this present womb,”
and “There were even several of us, but I am the only one who grew up.”
Apparently, one in ten embryos begins gestation as a twin, and that twin
disappearance is an unacknowledged cause of a deep sense of longing,
unhappiness, or guilt for the surviving individual42. Our study does not
provide evidence for this phenomenon but could provide tools to explore
this hypothesis.
Limitations
We highlight some of this study’s limitations to help improve future
studies. First, our recruitment method of both parents and mediums was
an opportunistic one. We cannot be sure that unknown factors didn’t
play a role in the type of profiles gathered. Importantly, we did not vet
the mediums for their accuracy prior to study onset. Future studies
should include vetting processes to ensure the recruited mediums’
abilities to provide verifiable information.
In addition, our sample is relatively small, but still produced a huge
amount of data. For each targeted fetus, we solicited a variable number
of mediums (i.e., 3 to 8). Depending on availability, we solicited a
variable number of mediums for each target, and this may have intro­
duced a gap in our data. Perhaps more assertions provide significantly
more matches. To answer this question, we evaluated the accuracy rate.
This resulted in a highly variable number of assertions for each fetus. It
would have been preferable to fix this number in advance. We verified
ad hoc that the success rate by medium number was not different. The
number of performing mediums doesn’t seem to significantly influence
the hit rate, likely because they remained independent throughout the
study.
551
EXPLORE 19 (2023) 544–552
A further limitation was that statement coding was not systematic, as
we didn’t plan to use standardized measures due to our exploratory
approach. We chose to verify statements with the parents by two means,
each of which introduced potential biases. The personalized self-
administered questionnaire with adjectives (including negative and
neutral adjectives) to describe the parents was not standardized and
included items reported by the mediums. Therefore, it may have influ­
enced the matching judgments. In addition, the verbal checks made
during the second parental interview could have been corrupted by
suggestions, since the researcher was not blind to the information
received from the medium. Even though the researcher chose the most
neutral wording possible, we also coded some of the parents’ responses
as likely to be confirmations obtained through suggestion or a Barnum-
like effect (i.e., 4.14% of all verifiable statements). In general, the triple
blinding applied may not have been sufficient due to the porosity
associated with the principal investigator’s role, who conducted the
parent interviews while collecting the mediums’ reports. Beischel et al.
(2015) proposed quintuple blinding that allows the addition of in­
termediaries to neutralize potential biases in the experimental and
judgment procedures20. This process should be explored in future
studies.
The judgment procedure was also exploratory. We separated the
forced-choice interview statements from the remaining remarks. These
could be statistically analyzed (Table 2) and the conclusions are
consistent with the null hypothesis. The latter were categorized into
those that could be verified and those that could not. For the verifiable
communications, the accuracy level varied greatly. Rather than asking
the participants to assign a truthfulness score to each statement as well
as to the medium’s report as a whole, accuracy was determined by three
judges with access to transcripts of the mediums’ and parents’ state­
ments, the parents’ questionnaires, and information related to the
pregnancy. Thus, judges could observe correspondences between
statements and confirmations that could be attributed to chance or to an
intellectual illusion. We also distinguished several matches affected by
the judges’ obvious interpretation (i.e., 24.84% of all verifiable state­
ments). These included such examples as a communication in which the
medium insisted on the fact that “a third person is important and very
close to the parental couple”, and the father talked about his daughter
from a first marriage, who is very happy to be a big sister, who has al­
ways been waiting for this.
Qualitative analyses using this methodology are still too dependent
on the subjective sensitivities of each judge. Triangulation and the
different levels of evidence provide only partial guarantees of the ob­
jectivity of the matchings. Such methods as proposed by Beischel in her
studies with mediums (2015) could bring more rigor to future studies.
Lastly, we chose not to set up a control group where, for example,
mediums would have provided a report on fake targets. This would have
allowed us to have a baseline of the style of statements and the speci­
ficity of the information transmitted for each medium (Beishel et al.,
2015). Such a secondary form of control may help to rule out confir­
mations associated with Barnum-like effects40.
Conclusions
To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to investigate the
possibility to communicate with a hypothesized prenatal consciousness.
It does not claim to prove the possibility of communicating with the
souls of fetuses. Nevertheless, the results open up new ways of thinking
and new ideas for scientific investigation into altered states of con­
sciousness and possibilities of interaction with the fetus during preg­
nancy. We observed more agreement between the mediums’
communications and the data reported by the parents when they were
spontaneously reported than in response to structured interview ques­
tions. The great mysteries concerning the existence of a prenatal con­
sciousness with which the future parents could communicate before the
child’s birth, or the reality or not of reincarnation, remain unresolved.
M.-J. Guittier et al.
While overall our results do not support the hypothesis of anomalous
communication between the mediums and the prenatal consciousness,
some of our results do suggest communication with the hypothetical
prenatal consciousness. Given this study’s exploratory nature, future
studies are needed. It is not our intention to suggest consultation with
psychics or mediums during pregnancy, but the sensitivity of the
parents-to-be and their ability to communicate subtly and autonomously
with their child deserves to be recognized, encouraged, and explored.
Funding
This research did not receive any specific grant from funding
agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.
Acknowledgments
We thank the 11 families who participated in this unique experience.
We thank S. Ouellet for her advice regarding her mediumship expertise,
and the 10 mediums: C. Dugniolle, K. Tanner, H. Rey-Ruf, J. Moreau-
Poffet, F. Maillefer, E. Mazza, from Switzerland, A. Hight from USA, F.
Hubert, A. Tournier from France, and M. Villemure from Canada. We
also thank L. Wilson for the editing of the manuscript.
Supplementary materials
Supplementary material associated with this article can be found, in
the online version, at doi:10.1016/j.explore.2022.11.003.
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