Baby needs to stay close to Mum
Looking at the chart below it is easy to understand why baby must stay close to Mum from birth. Only Mum and Dad’s hands to touch baby when born, only Mum’s and Dad’s voice should be heard by baby, and of course, soft lighting in the birthing space.
Too often in a medical environment there are loud noises, very strange smells, rough handling with the latex gloved midwife or obstetrician at birth. How confronting this must be for a baby who has spent 40 weeks in the worlds most perfect environment, safe and with Mum constantly.
We want our babies to enter the world gently, quietly and totally supported by Mum and Dad. There should be no need for any ‘other’ intervention.
INSIDE WOMB OUTSIDE WOMB
DARK LIGHT
SOUNDS SOFT LOUD NOISES
CONSTANT WARM TEMPERATURE FLUCTUATING TEMPERATURE
CONSTANT NUTRITION HUNGER AND THIRST
CONFINED SPACE LOTS OF SPACE
IN WATER IN AIR
INABILITY TO SMELL MANY DIFFERENT SMELLS
CONSTANT CONTACT WITH MUM REDUCED CONTACT
CONSTANTLY HELD REDUCED HOLDING
NAKED AND FREE CLOTHED AND SWADDLED
SOFT, WARM AND SAFE HARD, COLD SURFACES
How to ensure your baby’s rights are respected
- Begin advocating for your baby’s rights from conception
- Hire a doula, who will advocate for your’s and baby’s rights in labour and birth
- Include these wishes, prominently on your birth plan
Know that you will have a calm, happy and settled baby the longer you keep him close. Newborns must be given time to integrate slowly into this strange new world, that is of course, so familiar to us. By keeping baby close you are giving him the message that you understand how unfamiliar this new world is, and you are always going to keep him close and safe allowing him to ease into this world gently and at his own pace. Most importantly your baby needs to feel secure and protected. As a parent this message never changes, no matter how old your children are, but if we start at the very beginning it is a guarantee that baby will grow up feeling confident, safe and respected.
