There's something incredibly fascinating about giving birth that you can't always put into words. Somehow, some way, life works together. Have you ever heard of babies crawling to their mother's breast to feed? It's okay if you shake your head in disbelief. Just know, it happens.
So, wait, babies are crawling — like a 7-month-old? Not exactly. Take a look:
Embedded content: https://www.youtube.com/embed/uMcgJR8ESRc
This video from the Global Health Media Project has been gaining a bit of attention, and rightfully so. Following three new mothers and their babies just after birth, the international organization hopes to show a baby's natural instinct to "breast crawl," and its success.
In case you didn't know, a breast crawl is when a newborn — who's placed on Mom's tummy, typically for the first hour after birth — finds and moves to mother's breast on his or her own. Honestly, it's quite fascinating to watch, as a good number of us would likely never expect for a newborn to inch his or her way to the boob — at least, not without a ton of help.
The Global Health Media Project recommends that baby be left undisturbed on Mom's chest for an hour after birth. Wiped clean, except for his or her hands (it's thought the scent of amniotic fluid on the baby's hands has a similar smell as the mother's breast), the new bundle of joy will start to demonstrate feeding cues, and thus, slowly begin to move to the breast.
And if that's not amazing, most newborns will find the nipple on their own, even attaching to the breast themselves.
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Because of this, experts at the Global Health Media Project organization recommend interfering as little as possible, as it might confuse a baby's natural instinct. In fact, they believe birth attendants should wait at least one hour before they provide newborn care (so long as things are okay, I assume) — that will give Mom and baby a chance to bond and feed.
I never heard of this before, but seeing is believing. I had skin-to-skin contact with both of my children, though it certainly wasn't for an hour. What's interesting, is that my now 6-month-old wiggled (well, not fast fast, but quicker than my firstborn) his way to my boob not too long after he was born.
It's pretty amazing to see.
Seeing as birth customs differ around the world, I wonder if more medical facilities in the U.S. will allow for this to happen during the first hour after childbirth.
Image via Global Health Media Project/YouTube
