Having been in the field of “mother and baby-ing” for almost 19 years, I sometimes forget that things which seem like general knowledge to me may be brand new for many people.
One such thing is the importance of skin-to-skin contact between mother and baby directly after birth. In Sweden, where I practiced and where my children were born, it was natural and expected that the baby was placed directly onto the mother’s belly after birth. The parents themselves were able to explore the baby and find out, on their own, which gender it was, rather than someone announcing it for them. The moment belonged to the mother, to the parents. Emphasis and honor was on the mother and baby.
While parents were getting to know their baby and calling family to announce the arrival, a festive tray of open-faced sandwiches & sparkling cider, served in champagne glasses, was prepared and presented to them to celebrate the birth of their baby. Baby breastfed freely, and only after all of this did the parents join in on the weighing of the baby, and dressing it for the first time.
One important “function” of this initial prolonged skin-to-skin contact, which often is not mentioned, is one that is even less easily seen. When the baby is placed on the mother, the baby’s skin is then colonized with the same bacteria as its mother, a protective barrier. Within her milk circulate all the antibodies she’s developed based on what is in her environment … a second layer of protection for her baby, perfectly matching what her baby may face.
Just think of hospitals whose procedure it is to whisk the baby away, weigh it, bundle it, while the mother is being sutured, thinking they’re being helpful and efficient. Which bacteria have just made a home on your baby’s skin? The hospital’s!
In our haste and belief in technological advances as the only answer to improving birth statistics and babies’ health, we often overlook the intricate systems developed in nature to promote the survival of our species. Simplicity can be grand!
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