The first minutes, hours and days with a newborn baby are crucial for setting up the best possible adjustment to life outside the womb, learning to breastfeed and recovery for mother and baby. This is best achieved through supporting new parents to be the main ones handling the new baby.

We hear from Dr Robyn Thompson, midwife and breastfeeding researcher, on why it is so important for handling of a new baby by others is best kept to a minimum if all is well - even hospital staff. New parents need lots of quiet time to adjust to their lives as parents, to recover from birth and to support the baby's own process of learning to breastfeed.

We also hear from a mother of two children who knew instinctively the importance of minimising lots of outside contact during the early weeks and as a consequence, her babies were very calm. However, not everyone understood her intentions, but she held her ground on this. She calls for extended family and friends to respect new parents' choices to keep life quiet and simple in the early weeks.

If new parents aren't explicit in their wish for this, it is worth asking if that is what they would like and how you can support them.

This information is to support expectant parents and help prevent issues arising postnatally. Birth and breastfeeding takes its own path and can have unexpected turns. There are specialised services for parents to discuss their births, no matter how long ago, including: www.birthtalk.org, consiousbirth.com, birthingfromwithin.com

Credits:
- Dr Robyn Thompson, www.breastfeedingconsultant.com
- special thanks to Petria, mother, for sharing her personal stories

References:
Dr Robyn Thompson - http://www.breastfeedingconsultant.com/single-post/2017/09/02/The-First-Breastfeed​
The Birth Pause: thebirthpause.com
​Dr Nils Bergman: http://thebirthpause.com/tag/skin-to-skin
Sarah Blaffer Hrdy, Mother Nature (1999) Babies Celebrated: “ For species such as primates, the mother IS the environment.” ​
​Microbirth Movie: microbirth.com

Producer: Sally Cusack
copyright www.pbbmedia.org
2017

First broadcast on 99.9 BayFM, Byron Bay, Australia on 25 September 2017.