Medical and health professionals need to be able to support good infant mental health and recognise problems
Infant Mental Health for Midwives and Health Professionals
Tag: Attachment
What is the Fetus Ejection Reflex?
Physiological birth is an involuntary process, related to activity in the primitive brain and body structures. It occurs best when a woman’s parasympathetic nervous system is operational and she is in a state of trust. The fetus ejection reflex is a short series of involuntary movements that result in the birth of the baby followed by transcendent feelings for the mother baby dyad.
Bowlby and Beyond: How Emotions Shape Your Baby’s Brain
Introduction Bowlby’s landmark hypothesis that attachment to a loving caregiver is the core element in optimal development from infancy to adulthood, was a great step in our understanding of babies and children. The questions he raised about the importance of relationships for the growth of a baby’s brain preceded advances in neurobiological research over the last …
Why Homebirth?
Women who give birth at home have fewer interventions and higher satisfaction with the experience. This in turn influences the breastfeeding relationship and their bonding and attachment to their babies. Women who give birth naturally at home also suffer less with postnatal depression.
Fathers at Birth
Fathers at birth are a regular occurrence in our western world and their presence is encouraged. But preparation is needed for them to gain the full benefit of the unfolding process of changing from a couple to becoming a family. Being with their partners at birth is a profoundly moving event for fathers.
Siblings at Birth – The Travelling Midwife
Today I bumbed into a client whose births I attended a few years ago. Karen happened to be driving past the gate as I stepped out of my Cape Town home. Seven years ago in Cape Town, Karen birthed Teano, her firstborn son, in hospital and was home a few hours later. Second time around, Karen gave birth …
Breastfeeding: A Learnt Mammalian Behaviour
This is just a quick post to fill in the gap between our First Kwazulunatal (KZN) Birth and the Twin Birth Story , which I am busy composing. The day after I arrived on the farm after attending the birth of the twins in Cape Town, twin lambs were born to the pet mother sheep …