I'll admit it. I'm a 16 and Pregnant addict! Of course, anyone that knows me knows that I'm into just about anything with pregnancy or birth in the title. After watching one recently I was struck at how roughly the baby was handled right after the birth (which is very routine from the hospital births I've seen) and how completely unbothered the parents and grandparents were about this treatment. I've seen it at least 100 times. The baby's emerges, he is roughly rotated (a job he can do on his own by the way!), extracted from his mother's body, flipped over on the doctor's forearm, bulb syringe roughly inserted up his nose and in his mouth, and then flopped over into a waiting nurses arms. The nurse proceeds to take him over to the "baby station" where he is placed under the brightest of bright lights and his skin is roughly scrubbed until no trace of vernix remains on his skin. A tube is inserted up his nose and then down his throat to suck out any remaining mucus. A shot is given in his thigh and antibiotic eye ointment is rubbed into his eyes, blurring his vision. Through all of this, he screams in fear, pain, calling for his mother. She's the only things he's ever known. Where is she? Unfortunately, she is watching helplessly from her hospital bed. As was the case in this 16 and Pregnant, too blissfully unaware that this is NOT ok. She looks on lovingly, in awe, and seemingly doesn't notice her baby's anguish. 

I don't blame the mom or the father or the grandparents who all witnessed this post-birth treatment and did nothing. I think we've become desensitized to this kind of treatment. Just turn on any Baby Story or Birth Day. Walk into any birth room at most hospitals in the US and you see it. You'll see the blissful, loving look the moms have on their faces while their baby screams. It's part of our culture. The baby comes out and they SCREAM right? How many times have you heard "We were really holding our breath there, waiting to hear the baby cry. Then we knew everything was ok!" 

After I saw that show, I thought to myself that outside of birth, that kind of treatment would be unacceptable. If someone roughly grabbed a mom's baby out of her arms and proceeded to change the baby's diaper in the same manner, you better believe a Mama Bear will come out! Why is birth so different? Is it because she's in a birth haze? Is it because she feels she has no power? Or is it because every show she's ever seen has shown newborns being treated that way and therefore it must be NORMAL. Or worse yet, NECESSARY. It's not!

Do babies need to cry? Actually no. Many of them do not or only cry for a short period of time. Some of them do come out "telling their birth story" as I say and bless us with their cries for some time after the birth. They aren't crying because they are in pain though and there's a big difference.   

This baby was born in a home waterbirth. She never cried though her heartrate and resperatory rate were even and normal. Her lungs quickly cleared of fluid. She connected with her parents for a few minutes, reaching for them silently and calmly. After a few minutes, she simply snuggled in and went to sleep next to her mother's breast. Our little joke was that she didn't cry at all until about 2 hours after the birth when her older brother bothered her and then she let us know that she DID know how to cry! I believe this is the hallmark of a baby who is respected during birth.

During my prenatals, I talk to the babies. I let them know who I am and what my intentions are. It might sound silly but I just narrate to them what I am doing. "Oh hi Baby! How are you today? I'm just going to feel around to see what position you are in. This is exactly the right position Baby! Good for you!" Remember that fetal hearing begins as early as 10 weeks. Sure, maybe they can't understand the words that I am saying but they hear my intentions to treat them as an individual, capable of feeling emotions. They understand that I have no intention to hurt them. I also encourage both parents to talk to their baby regularly. I have found that women tend to have shorter labors if they explain the birth process to their baby.  

During the birth, I imagine that there could be no better experience for the baby then being received by his parents. Philosophically, I've always liked the idea that the parents were the ones who created the baby and they should be the first ones to touch him.

In homebirths, we have a baby station too. It keeps the newborn warm and fed and loved. It's his Mother! I rarely use a bulb syringe because babies are very, very good at clearing up their own mucus. Try sticking one of those up your nose and see how it feels! I've done that so I only use a bulb syringe if it will truly be helpful and only after telling the baby what I am doing and why. 

As long as the baby is transitioning normally (as nearly all of them do), I would never even consider doing a newborn exam for at least an hour after the birth. During that hour, he needs to be with mom and dad, skin to skin, being fawned over and stroked. Mom needs to do that too! It regulates her blood pressure and releases huge amounts of the bonding hormone oxytocin. 

If a baby isn't transitioning very well, he still needs to be with his mom. It goes against every rational argument that a baby who isn't oxygenated properly should be removed from his oxygen supply (his umbilical cord) and taken away from his mom, the very person who has sustained him thus far and who can actually stabilize him herself. If I need to intervene, I do it right on the mother, with the mother and father talking to their baby. 

This is homebirth. Mothers, fathers, and babies treated with respect. My deepest wish is that this respect becomes part of our culture. That when you see a baby treated with respect, THAT seems normal. I want parents to see that rough treatment of their newborn for exactly what it is...ABUSE! Every baby deserves to be treated with respect and dignity. Every parent needs to demand it. Every careprovider needs to ask themself if they inflict pain and suffering on newborns. Even if it is unintentional, that treatment is the baby's first experience with life on Earth. Respect and dignity. Every birth. Every baby. Every time!