There is a tribe in east Africa in which the art of true intimacy
is fostered even before birth. In this tribe, the birth date of
a child is not counted from the day of its physical birth nor
even the day of conception as in other village cultures. For this
tribe the birth date comes the first time the child is a thought
in its mother's mind. Aware of her intention to conceive a child
with a particular father, the mother then goes off to sit alone
under a tree. There she sits and listens until she can hear the
song of the child that she hopes to conceive. Once she has heard
it, she returns to her village and teaches it to the father so
that they can sing it together as they make love, inviting the
child to join them. After the child is conceived, she sings it
to the baby in her womb. Then she teaches it to the old women
and midwives of the village, so that throughout the labor and
at the miraculous moment of birth itself, the child is greeted
with its song. After the birth all the villagers learn the song
of their new member and sing it to the child when it falls or
hurts itself. It is sung in times of triumph, or in rituals and
initiations. This song becomes a part of the marriage ceremony
when the child is grown, and at the end of life, his or her loved
ones will gather around the deathbed and sing this song for the
last time.
Quoted from Jack Kornfield,
A Path with Heart (Bantam Books, 1993), p. 334