My two daughters (b. 1965 & 1969) were decompression babies, and my experiences with them were very positive; my impression was that use of the unit was efficacious. Just googled abdominal decompression since I’ve heard nothing about it for many years. Was curious if it’s still in use. I found the recent articles that conclude it’s not useful, but was a tad confused by the end points they use … Didn’t seem to reflect the original claims exactly.

By the way, the unit was developed before the mid- or late sixties; probably the late fifties. A classmate of mine living in Johannesburg in the early sixties went to the clinic in about 1963 or 1964, used the unit for her first pregnancy, and brought two back to Canada, one of which I subsequently used.

I’d be glad to give you a summary of my experiences, if you’re still interested … Partly a gong show! But otherwise a positive experience and outcome. By the way, I was a young OR nurse at the time of my daughter’s births, and subsequently did a couple of degrees and worked in clinical research, so have a working knowledge of reading clinical trial reports and findings.

I’ve book-marked your website & will get back to you if you want an account of my experiences.

Cheers. S.

Dear “Decompression Baby”,

I stumbled upon your website when looking for info on abdominal decompression. Believe it or not, in my country (Slovenia), they still regularly perform decompression and actually advise every healthy pregnant woman to undertake 5-10 treatments. The expenses are covered by the public health insurance. I am pregnant myself now (in the 7th month) and within 4 weeks I can start going for the treatments. If you are still interested, I can keep you updated and in a few months share with you my birthing experience.

Best wishes,

H.
Ljubljana, Slovenia

I noticed your blog about the abdominal decompression method. I am the mother of two kids, and I used this method both times. I am from Slovenija, and in our country they are still using this method. Every pregnant woman from her 30th week of pregnancy can go up to 10 times.

It is said to be good for the circulation of blood, so it is good for the baby, and I have to admit it was perfect feeling for me too.

Read your blog with interest, as I too am one of the experimental children, as well as my younger brother!

It’s a pity no conclusive analysis of results was compiled, as it would indeed make for interesting reading, particularly if one happens to be one of the lab-rats!  My Mother, myself, and my younger brother all have sleeping difficulties, and it would be interesting to know if this was one of the side effects of the procedure?

I would be very interested to hear if you have uncovered any further information!

The equipment I used looked much different, there was a plexiglass dome with a plastic skirt that fit ’round the abdomen, connected to a vacuum device. I cannot remember the doctor’s name who delivered J_ and heard that he had passed away just a few years after J_ was born. I remember that he had talked about a follow-up study, but sadly, nothing was done. You will find that as a scientist, my son does not put much stock in it, because there was not a truly scientific study done…

Hello… I found your web page while trying to research the abdominal decompression equipment and process I used back in 1969 for the birth of my first child. I did it because I had read an article, probably by Dr. Hehns, about how to have a genius. Did it work?

I believe absolutely that it did. My son was valedictorian, graduated from Stanford with honors, has an MD/PhD from Harvard and is currently teaching and doing research at Cornell Medical School. As a scientist, he laughs at my stories. As the mother of a ‘genius’, I believe it worked.