This is my all time favorite breastfeeding video, and I'm so glad that someone posted it on You Tube. You may want to turn off the volume, since it's narrated in another language and that's a little distracting.
These film clips show newborn babies, moments after birth. You probably know that babies can't crawl until they're well past 6 months old. But the first baby shown in this film, whose mother had a unmedicated labor and who was not separated after the birth, is able to actually crawl up the mother's body, find the breast, and latch on. The baby's eyes are closed, so this he or she is navigating through touch and smell.
The next set of babies were separated from their mothers after the birth and/or were born to mothers who had medication during their labors. They show less of these reflexes.
Last month at a breastfeeding conference I attended one of the pioneers of the concept that mothers and babies benefit by staying close together after birth (sometimes called skin-to-skin or kangaroo care), showed images of his dog's newborn puppies and a human baby. It was amazing to see that they both did the same thing: kicked, rooted, found the breast, and latched on.
Some of you may have been lucky enough to see this reflex with your own babies. If so, tell me about it!
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