Expectant mother, Heather Barringer and her husband, Adam, went to Hawaii last month. The couple from North Carolina did not travel to the tropical islands to go sightseeing or enjoy great food but to give birth underwater with dolphins.
They are waiting for baby Bodhi and the dolphins will assist when Barringer goes into labor this July in Pohoa. They are staying with a group that aims to "dolphinize" the world known as The Sirius Institute founded by Star Newland. The couple believes that dolphin-assisted birth will give the mother and child some strength, comfort and peace.
At the Sirius Institute, the Barringers have long prepared for their due date. They have been spending time in the water together with some dolphins in the hopes that they can find some connection with the creatures.
"It is about reconnecting as humans with the dolphins so we can coexist in this world together and learn from one another," said Heather Barringer in an interview.
A Charlotte Observer report revealed that the Barringers were inspired by a book "The Ancient Secret of the Flower of Life" written by Drunvalo Melchizedek. The couple has been thinking about the dolphin-assisted birth even before they were pregnant, citing signs that they were destined to go to Hawaii.
Experts are saying that it is pretty dangerous for a pregnant woman to be around dolphins and it will be difficult to say what the dolphins can do especially once the woman gives birth.
"This has to be, hands down, one of the worst natural birthing ideas one has ever had," commented Christie Wilcox of Discover.
Wilcox continued by citing researchers that showed the potential aggressiveness of dolphins through studies that established how male dolphins gang rape their females and kill young porpoises, baby sharks and even baby dolphins to practice their killing skills or just for no reason at all.
"They are real, large, ocean predators with a track record for violences - even when it comes to humans," Wilcox added.
However, "Birthing with the dolphins has been an ancient native practice in Hawaii and in other cultures," reiterated Michael Hyson, research director of the Sirius Institute.
In an interview by Penn and Teller, couples who went to The Sirius Institute really did not go through a dolphin-assisted birth.
Would you want a dolphin to be your OB-GYN?
