In an unmedicated birth, the baby pushes its legs against the uterine wall to assist its birth. He also rotates his head and body in a spiraling motion to negotiate the mother's pelvic bones. In Holistic Midwifery (Volume II), Anne Frye describes these movements as the "Cardinal Spiraling Movements of the Baby during Labor."
The newborn displays reflexes that reinforce his role in birth. For example, when you press on his feet, he will press back, just as he presses against uterine contractions. If you place him face down, he will turn to the side, just as he turns his head in the perineal phase of birth. What a perfect design! Several animations of this phenomenon are available online, and here is one.
Remember that most of what you are seeing is in very very fast motion! Labor usually takes hours (if not days) of work for both mother and baby. However the actually emergence of the body is almost always very quick following the birth of the head, and to me this clip portrays that moment quite well!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment