The gentlebirth.org website is provided courtesy of
Ronnie Falcao, LM MS,
a homebirth midwife in Mountain View, CA
The gentlebirth.org website is provided courtesy of
Ronnie Falcao, LM MS,
a homebirth midwife in Mountain View, CA
|
An interactive resource for moms on easy steps they can take to reduce exposure to chemical toxins during pregnancy. Other excellent resources about avoiding toxins during pregnancy These are easy to read and understand and are beautifully presented. |
A
timeline of a baby’s first hour - Careful observations document
newborns’ instinctual behaviors by Laura Sanders [10/9/14] -
The comments are perhaps the most interesting part about
this. Personally, I used to tell my clients to expect that
baby's first five minutes would be focused on the transition to
breathing; then the next 15 minutes would be dedicated to the
initialization of the visual part of the brain, stimulated by the
baby's gazing at the mother's face; then the baby would shift to
self-attachment at the breast, which could be a long
process. I am flabbergasted at the short duration of
breastfeeding observed in these videos. In my practice, much
attention is given to supporting the initiation of breastfeeding,
and once latched on, most babies nurse for at least 30 minutes,
many for 60, and some for up to two hours. I never did
statistics to notice a correlation between the length of the
different stages of labor and the length of different phases of
baby's transition, but it makes eminent sense to me that a longer
pushing stage (with heightened adrenaline) may leave the baby more
energetic after the birth for longer breastfeeding. This
would be a neat adaptation since first-time mothers tend to have a
longer pushing stage and also need more breast stimulation to
bring the milk in.
Newborn
behaviour to locate the breast when skin-to-skin: a possible
method for enabling early self-regulation.
Widström AM1, Lilja G, Aaltomaa-Michalias P, Dahllöf A,
Lintula M, Nissen E.
Acta Paediatr. 2011 Jan;100(1):79-85. doi:
10.1111/j.1651-2227.2010.01983.x. Epub 2010 Sep 14.
Twenty-eight full-term infants were videotaped immediately after
birth. A video protocol was developed to examine infant behaviours
identified from five random videotapes.
RESULTS: When birth crying had stopped, the babies showed a short
period of relaxation and then successively became alert. They went
through an 'awakening phase', an 'active phase' with movements of
limbs, rooting activity and looking at the mother's face, a
'crawling phase' with soliciting sounds, a 'familiarization phase'
with licking of the areola, and a 'suckling phase' and last a
'sleeping phase'. Five factors related to the time spent to locate
the breast: more number of looks at the breast 10-20 min after
birth (p < 0.0001); and exposure to meperidine (p = 0.0006)
related to increased time. Early start of crawling (p = 0,0040);
increased number of 'soliciting sounds' (p = 0.0022); and
performing hand-breast-mouth movements (p = 0.0105) related to
shorter time. [Ed: They don't mention the birth interventions used
in these births; it is critical to know whether the babies were
drugged either with narcotics, sedatives or oxytocics.]
Evidence-Based
Practices
for the Fetal to Newborn Transition
Judith S. Mercer, CNM, DNSc; Debra A. Erickson-Owens, CNM, MS, ;
Barbara Graves, CNM, MN, MPH; Mary Mumford Haley, CNM, MS
"Although immediate cord clamping is common practice, recent
evidence from large randomized, controlled trials suggests that
delayed cord clamping may protect the infant against anemia.
Skin-to-skin care of the newborn after birth is recommended as the
mainstay of newborn thermoregulation and care. Routine suctioning
of infants at birth was not been found to be beneficial. . .
. This review of evidence on newborn care practices reveals that
more often than not, less intervention is better. The
recommendations support a gentle, physiologic birth and
family-centered care of the newborn."
Kangaroo Mother Care Promotions aims to promote the spread and implementation of Kangaroo Mother Care as the standard method of care for all newborn babies, both premature and full term. This is the website of Dr. Nils Bergman.
New
Research
Shows “Kangaroo Mother Care” Reduces Newborn Deaths More than 50
Percent, Proven to be More Effective than Incubators for Stable
Preterm Babies [3/26/10] - Up To Half A Million Newborn
Lives Could Be Saved Each Year
Parenting
in
the NICU: Holding Your Baby Close: Kangaroo Care from the
March of Dimes.
From the American Academy of Pediatrics [ #3 AAP Recommendations]:
Healthy infants should be placed and remain in direct
skin-to-skin contact with their mothers immediately after delivery
until the first feeding is ac=
complished.
The alert, healthy newborn infant is capable of latching on to a
breast without specific assistance within the first hour after
birth. Dry the infant,=
assign Apgar scores, and perform the initial physical
assessment while the infant is with the mother. The mother is an
optimal heat source for the in=
fant. Delay weighing, measuring, bathing, needle-sticks, and eye
prophylaxis until after the first feeding is completed. Infants
affected by maternal =
medications may require assistance for effective latch-on. Except
under unusual circumstances, the newborn infant should remain with
the mother throughout the recovery period.
The
Importance of Skin to Skin Contact by Jack Newman, MD, FRCPC
Birth KMC -
As originally described, and as generally practiced worldwide,
skin-to-skin contact is only “allowed” after the baby has
stabilised. The assumption therefore is that a baby requires
incubator care in order to stabilise. The reality is that
incubators actually “de-stabilise” newborns.
Kangaroo
Mother
Care - a practical guide (from World Health Organization -
WHO)
International Network
for Kangaroo Mother Care
The
effect
of skin-to-skin contact (kangaroo care) shortly after birth on
the neurobehavioral responses of the term newborn: a randomized,
controlled trial.
Ferber SG, Makhoul IR.
Pediatrics. 2004 Apr;113(4):858-65.
"KC seems to influence state organization and motor system
modulation of the newborn infant shortly after delivery. The
significance of our findings for supportive transition from the
womb to the extrauterine environment is discussed. Medical and
nursing staff may be well advised to provide this kind of care
shortly after birth."
Skin-to-Skin
Contact Beneficial in Healthy Term Newborns by Laurie
Barclay, MD [Medscape]
Investigators in this randomized trial suggest using this method
of "kangaroo care" shortly after birth to improve neurobehavioral
responses.
The effect of skin-to-skin contact (kangaroo care) shortly after
birth on the neurobehavioral responses of the term newborn: a
randomized, controlled trial.
Ferber SG, Makhoul IR.
Pediatrics. 2004 Apr;113(4):858-65.
CONCLUSIONS: KC seems to influence state organization and motor
system modulation of the newborn infant shortly after delivery.
The significance of our findings for supportive transition from
the womb to the extrauterine environment is discussed. Medical and
nursing staff may be well advised to provide this kind of care
shortly after birth.
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