Hello world!

The way your newborn experiences his new world is awe-inspiring. Understand the journey from womb to world.

The nine months in utero is a period of preparation for you and your new baby. During this time, you ponder and prepare, dream about your new baby and envisage the type of mom you will be. This time gives you the space to get ready to parent your little one. At the same time, your tiny baby grows and develops and begins the journey in becoming the person he will be. Pregnancy and time in the womb is the best preparation for you and your baby. But as he lies in your arms minutes after birth, the realisation will dawn that all that time in the womb was really only the start and the real journey into becoming a little person begins as your baby emerges from womb to world.

THE PERFECT STATE TO MEET THE PARENTS

Immediately after birth you will find your baby is very alert and attentive to you. There is a good reason for this. In the last few weeks in utero, your baby is contained in a very tight space with deep pressure from the womb walls. In addition, during birth, your baby moves down a very narrow canal. All this deep pressure touch (from the womb walls and the birth canal) is very soothing for your baby, like a deep massage. In addition, during the birth process, your baby’s brain releases stress hormones (cortisol and adrenaline) that are needed at the time of birth and just after.

The combination of the stress hormones and the soothing deep pressure puts your baby into an alert but calm state for the first few hours after birth.

This state prepares your baby for bonding in the early hours and days. In this alert state, your baby will make eye contact with you, look at your face intently and even mimic your mouth movements! This precious state provides a wonderful time to meet and engage with your baby.

MAKING EYE CONTACT

Until only a few decades ago, people believed babies were blind at birth, like newborn puppies. We now know that not only is this untrue, but your baby can actually see in full colour and with perfect focus at a distance of 20cm. Any closer or further, and your baby will lose focus. Even more amazing is that 20cm is the distance from your eyes to your nipple, so as your baby lies at your breast, he can focus on your face. Within minutes of birth, your baby’s eyes will move around the room in tiny movements we call saccades. He will continue to do this until his eyes lock in on yours. Your baby is wired to bond with you and searches for your face. Turn down the light as soon as he is born, so that your baby is not startled by bright lights but can find your face and focus on you.

PREPARED TO FEED

Your miracle baby will not cease to amaze you. Within an hour of birth, a baby placed on his mother’s chest can find his way to the breast and begin to feed with almost no assistance! There are three critical reflexes that prepare your baby to do this. Firstly, when placed on his tummy on your chest, your newborn can coordinate little creeping movements that will bring him to his food source. Even more amazing is the fact that at birth your baby can identify where your milk is just by smell. Newborns who are presented with two cotton wool swabs, one with his own mother’s milk expressed onto it and another with another mother’s milk will turn towards the smell of his own mom’s milk.

Once your baby finds your nipple, or is brought to the breast, the rooting reflex will help him take your nipple into his mouth. The rooting reflex helps your baby to turn towards touch on the cheek. Then it’s the sucking reflex that helps your baby get feeding right.

YOUR FAMILIAR VOICE

By 16 weeks in utero, your baby hears and responds to sounds. Of course, the sound he knows best is the sound of your voice, which he hears often and clearly during pregnancy. Amazingly, within minutes of birth, your baby will turn to your voice. He knows your voice and can even hear the difference between the language you speak and another. Right from birth your baby’s brain is wired to understand language and to respond to his mother tongue.

HOLD ME, TOUCH ME

Coming from the soothing sensory space of the womb, where your baby has had skin-to-skin touch for nine long months (his skin against your uterus walls), he will crave your touch. Skin-to-skin care, which involves placing your naked baby (with only a nappy) on your naked chest and covering you both with a blanket is a wonderful way to ease your baby from womb to world. Full term and prem babies do well with skin-to-skin care, and your chest will act as a natural incubator to warm your baby up. Even babies delivered by caesarean section can be nurtured on your chest immediately after birth, unless they are very fragile or medically ill.

TIME TO SLEEP

Immediately after birth you’ll be on such a high, and Baby will be in the calm alert state – the perfect time to begin the bonding process. However, after a period of engaging, you and your baby will be overcome with exhaustion. You will both do well to drop off to sleep. Your baby can sleep on you or in a crib right next to your bed. Research has shown that babies who room in with their moms in the first three days breastfeed for a longer time in the first year of life. If you are exhausted and have had a tough time and need to sleep without your baby in the same room, request he is brought to you to feed as soon as he cries.

GETTING TO KNOW YOUR BABY

Your baby is a miracle; he comes equipped on a sensory level to bond, learn and interact with you, but that does not mean this period of “womb to world” is a breeze. In utero, your baby had all his needs met constantly without ever having to communicate them. Although your baby does have a language of his own from the early days, he may battle to interpret his internal sensory input, and you may take time to learn your baby’s unique signals. Take the time to slow down and look out for them from early on.

Most newborns display signals that are relatively universal, and even prem babies have these signals.

1 APPROACH SIGNALS

I AM HAPPY, PLEASE

INTERACT WITH ME.

■ Making eye contact.

■ Oo’ing mouth shape.

■ Smile-like features.

2 WARNING SIGNALS

I AM COPING AND CAN HELP MYSELF STAY CALM BUT DON’T OVER STIMULATE ME NOW.

■ Saluting with his hands.

■ Sucking his hands.

■ Holding his ear.

■ Clasping his hands together.

3 FUSSING SIGNALS

I NEED HELP TO SETTLE TO SLEEP OR BE REMOVED FROM THIS STIMULATION.

■ Arching back.

■ Grimacing.

■ Crying.

The first 24 hours and the weeks that follow are an amazing journey of getting to know your baby. From his sight, hearing and early reflexes to his brain connections, your baby is wired to bond with you as a social being. Take the time to engage with your baby – and embark on the most special relationship of your life. ●