Little Known Fetal/ Newborn Capabilities

Your precious baby is not completely helpless, in the same way that wild animals are not born completely helpless.

Let's discover a few amazing things your baby does, or is capable of in their earliest stages of life!

"The Breast Crawl"

A newborn infant has the ability to maneuver themselves to your breast, latch, and feed all without much or any intervention. We often see early intervention by birthing staff to assist mom and baby to latch early on after delivery, including pushing baby into the breast and handling the breast itself to put into baby's mouth. This is grossly unnecessary. In physiological birth a baby placed at mom's tummy will naturally seek out her breast, and literally "crawl" or maneuver themselves into an ideal position. Not all babies emerge ravenously hungry, and allowing them time to progress naturally to the breast for their first meal is an amazing process to experience!

"Fetal Maneuvers In Birth"

During the process of birth, there are cardinal movements the fetus makes while descending down into and through the birth canal. Your baby is not just "birthed" by you, they are an active participant in the process, and your birth is an intricate dance between your baby and yourself. These movements all help baby to descend in the most ideal way possible, depending on their position in utero. Interestingly, a breech baby (bottom of feet first), can be observed rocking or doing "crunches" after their body emerges, to allow their head the momentum and appropriate movement to emerge afterwards.

"Exchange Of Blood Cells"

Fetal microchimerism is an incidence where fetal cells can be found in maternal circulation. These cells have been known to heal and repair areas of maternal damage, such as maternal heart tissues. Fetal cells can be found in maternal circulation for years after pregnancy. Imagine your baby is capable of sensing maternal injury/distress, and providing a transfer of healing cells. What an amazingly symbiotic relationship!

My hopes are that you found some magic and intrigue in these interesting and wonderful newborn/ fetal capabilities.

Looking for doula support, support that can help you expand your thinking on the maternal-fetal relationship? Reach out for a complimentary call to discuss how I can support you in your journey ❤️

Yours,

Sondra Reher

Find free content, doula services, and more at the

Maternal Intuition Website

https://www.nursedoulabirthkeeper.com