When a woman labours and give births to her child without drugs or intervention, there's instinctive birth stages that takes place between the mother and her newborn baby.
Experts who have studied natural birth process and breastfeeding experts observed that, healthy full term baby who are unaffected by drugs will follow a plan which is in laid their primitive brain to find the breast and attach, all by themselves.
Just like any other mammal newborns, they will move their whole body towards the nipple and this is the only goal in their mind. In a process that takes at least an hour from the time after birth, babies will go through this 9 instinctive behaviours and in strict order. Each stage has its purpose and place in the journey, as listed below:
Stage 1: The Birth Cry
This is the sound which everyone holds their breath to hear immediately a child is born, this signals that the baby is alive. The birth cry is like no other, a special cry, as the baby draws his first breath into his new lungs. The baby may cry as his body slides out of the birth canal or when placed onto the mom's abdomen.
Stage 2: Relaxation
A minute after the baby's first cry, the baby will suddenly become quite and still, he has entered the relaxation stage. As he rest on his mother's body, his body should be covered in a dry towel or blanket that is warm, the head however should be uncovered. The mother's body will regulate his temperature, heartbeat, and breathing while he rests, automatically without any conscious effort.
Stage 3: Awakening
On the average, three minutes after the baby has rested, he then begins to take in his new environment. A few minutes after birth and breathing, he might open his eyes, move his head and shoulders, move his mouth slowly.
Stage 4: Activity
On the average, eight minutes after birth, he might begin to respond to the rooting instinct- the primitive one from birth, his mouth becomes active and begins to search for the breast, makes sucking and gaping movement as he seeks the breast.
Stage 5: Rest
He's in a new place, taking in his new environment, he takes time to rest for each experience he's experiencing in the new world he found himself.
Stage 6: Crawling
35 minutes after birth, on the average, the newborn baby begins to move his body upwards towards the breasts. The primal reflexes will again help him "move" as he pushes his feet against his mother's belly(this makes her uterus contract) as he makes his movement towards the breast. This movement in search of his mother's breast may take 30 minutes, he smears amniotic fluid as he goes, this is the familiar scent he lays down so he can track it when looking for the breast later.
Stage 7: Familiarization
When he reaches the breast, either of the breasts or the two, he familiarizes himself with them by licking, touching and even massaging the breast with his fists. The mother responds to this with the surge of oxytocin - the love hormone. Besides beginning the bond between mother and child, oxytocin also helps the uterus contract, bring out the placenta and reduce blood loss. It also triggers the reflex to release colostrum from the breasts.
The baby knows the smell of the colostrum, on perceiving it, his eyes will gaze at the nipple, he'll take his hands from his mouth to the nipple and back (despite that he doesn't have a hand-eye coordination yet). Getting to know the breast more might take him up to 20 minutes before he moves on to the next stage.
Stage 8: Suckling
An hour or so after birth, using his upper body he finally move towards the nipple in an attempt to latch on. He'll move his mouth side to side as he feels the nipple against his cheeks, until he gets the right spot and he attaches. He becomes quiet, then sucks, taking in the first colostrum into his system. The colostrum will line his gut with protective bacteria, in the bid to provide his body the immune system what it needs to face the world.
Stage 9: Sleep
This happens around 1 and a half hours or 2 hours after birth. When the baby finally sleeps, so does his mother, the relaxing effects of oxytocin is working on them both. Both mother and child should rest undisturbed after the birth.
If they want to weigh the baby, let them wait until he's awake, and other observations can be done while the baby is lying against his mother. Some mothers will remain like this for some hours after the birth undisturbed.
Normally, every birth ought to occur in such a way that this process would happen at the baby's pace, uninterrupted. But in reality, most mothers and baby will be in need of intervention due to procedures and protocols. Therefore, they may get just a few minutes with the baby before the baby is taken away for observation, the mother is taken away to for stitching and/or other medical procedures, all of which requires that the mother and child be separated awhile.
And if the mother can't hold her baby because they are still stitching her up or for some other reasons, let her mother, husband or any other person give the baby skin- to-skin contact and give him warmth until the mother can take over her role.
If the mother had a C-section crawling up the mother's chest will definitely not be possible, but the baby can be placed across the mother's chest and be covered so the heat from the mother can be maximized. And doing this will allow mother and child to go anywhere together.
As you can see, our babies came into the world prepared for what they'll meet in the world. To be able to get their baby needs food and warmth included, they have their instinct and reflex around them from birth.
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