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Your feet in theirs
It can be easy to forget that newborns will take time to become attuned to their new physical
and emotional home. Perhaps, in some cases, it would be valuable to revisit our Western
ways of thinking and providing when it comes to how ‘at home’ they feel.
Adopting the practice of placing your feet in your baby’s ‘shoes’ in their early seconds,
hours, days and months of life can assist greatly in creating an intimate relaxed response for
your baby, thereby opening yourselves further for a love beyond measure.
Just for a few minutes, imagine all your baby’s first times from the moment of birth. It
will be the first time your newborn has felt air, another’s skin and hands, and breath from
someone else move across their face, let alone taken their first breath.
This is the first time they have been exposed to the external world’s light, temperature
fluctuations and our levels of noise. It is the first time they have been wrapped or clothed in
anything but fluid, let alone bundled up in a car seat that allows them no room to move, or
been taken to malls in front packs, or been handed from one person to the next.
It is the first time they have had to digest food or make a bowel movement in the way we
do. It will be the first time they have been placed in the positions outlined in BabyCues,
experienced the calming techniques, and been taught the difference between night and day.
All too often we expect our newborns to adapt quickly to their world. Particular happenings
and beliefs have become so accepted within society and our adult lives, we often overlook
the fact that some of these things we do could have a huge impact on them.
An example of this, and something we could change to dramatically improve the digestive
functioning and mental well-being for all newborns at birth, is this: some Western societies
are largely taught that at delivery it is necessary to clear the airway passage of meconium
for all newborns. Fingers are shoved in the newborn’s mouth, or tubes forced up the nostrils
or down the throat within the first seconds of life. It often surprises parents when they hear
that this procedure is only meant to be implemented when a baby is not alert and active,
and are therefore showing signs of meconium aspiration. However, many newborns are still
undergoing this abusive ‘welcome’ even if they do not have this serious condition. When this
happens, the baby writhes in a state of physical and emotional trauma. This is clearly visible
as they cry out and exhibit the startle reflex (arms moving outwards), pleading for security
and telling us they do not feel safe — they don’t want it — while their oesophagus potentially
sustains damage from the tube.
As a natural process, the startle reflex often accompanies the first expansion of air into a
newborn’s lungs at birth. However, if the baby does not feel secure for any reason in those
early stages, large gulps of air are ingested as they try to catch their first breaths. My research
shows that this excessive intake of air is a highly probable cause for reflux to be experienced
on a newborn’s first day — the air they swallowed forcing out the milk that sits on top of it.
Quite simply, the inclusive, respectful change of meconium aspiration and focused secure
handling at birth could lessen the number of newborns suffering reflux from Day One.
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