The Firsts of Breastfeeding

FIRST GOLDEN HOUR

A newborn has an innate ability to survive and thrive if we allow the primal reflexes to kick-in, as a sequence during the birth of the baby. During a safe and supported birth within an empowering birth environment, the newborn often undergoes a quiet, alert phase, which has been referred to as the first phase, or simply the Breast Crawl.

When the newborn is placed skin to skin on the mum’s chest, shortly after birth, the baby is able to move closer to the breasts and attach, to initiate suckling. Studies show us that baby’s alertness gradually decreased within 150 minutes after birth, when baby usually becomes more drowsy and sleepy. This confirms the importance of first golden hour being critical to allow integration of many sensory, motor and neuro-endocrine inputs to facilitate a ‘Breast Crawl’ soon after birth. This helps mum and baby deeply bond in a natural, undisturbed way and maximise the opportunity for the baby to prime the milk receptors to stimulate and increase milk production for the mum, for the natural term breastfeeding.

During the Breast Crawl, babies use all senses to explore that world of bonding. The smell of the dark potion of the breasts is similar to the amniotic fluid, which guides in the movement along with eyes to look at the mums’ face. The first golden hour breastfeeding is also a boost to the mum’s ability to improve breast milk production, and facilitate in loss of blood.

FIRST SIX MONTHS