Thursday, March 13, 2008
Skin to skin
Hospitals these days really push the swaddling thing. They bring the baby burrito to you after every check and they show you how to do it so you can master your own little bundle at home. I think it makes a lot of sense in the hospital, especially if there's any separation from mom. Baby is looked at, vitals checked, dipe changed & now baby is pissed! So, put baby back in the burrito and he calms down on the way back to the room. So a new mom is like, "yes, I must master the baby burrito!" But at home, when working hard to get baby fed and the milk supply established, nothin works as well as skin to skin contact. Don't be afraid to set baby free and bring him close to cuddle and in his own time, he will cozy up and latch. As my favorite LC says, "Skin to skin is like control, alt, delete to a baby." It really does bring them back to basics, reminds them of their most recent home and helps them settle down and eat. And if nursing problems develop or the supply seems to drop, baby can be brought right back to the beginning, with only a diaper (or not if you EC), on mama's bosom.
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3 comments:
Our hospital actually encouraged skin-to-skin contact. Well, not immediately after the birth, since they were fixing me up after my c-section and doing whatever they were doing with the baby. But afterwards whenever Adriana was too cold, they told me to undress her to her diaper and put her in my nightgown. We spent most of our time in the hospital snuggled up that way. And after we were at home, my husband would put her on his chest and put a blanket over both of them. It was so sweet.
I've been having the moms and babies do much more skin to skin time after birth, and guess what? The babies at these births are less fussy, rarely cry, and initiate breastfeeding sooner!!
Duh.....get with it everyone! Skin to skin is the BEST!!
At your Cervix,
You are awesome! Thanks for helping new moms so much!
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