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Much is said about the mother’s bond with the baby from the first minutes of birth, isn’t it? Today we will talk about a phenomenon discovered by neuroscience called imprinting: love at first sight. First perceived in animals through studies by Austrian naturalist scientist Konrad Lorenz on the process by which a newborn animal recognizes its mother , this phenomenon is even more beautiful in humans. Minutes after birth, when visually exposed to mothers, the baby already demonstrates his preference for her face and, certainly, this preference is even stronger due to the ties acquired in uterine life.
Imprinting proves how important the mother’s first moments with the baby are. Some scholars call these first minutes a critical period – when the baby develops a certain attachment to the mother. Another child development scholar who describes this contact well was John Bowlby, an English psychologist who created the attachment theory. In this theory, he states that the relationship between the baby and the mother does not develop only through food, but mainly by the feeling of security. That’s what Frederick Leboyer says! The baby is fed with milk, but needs affection to live . Love is also food! Milk feeds the body and affection the soul.
In addition to breastfeeding in the first hour, which is so important for the baby’s health, we increasingly realize how essential touch, body heat, smell and the mother’s gaze are for the child’s development, especially in the first years of life – time the formation and structuring of personality and child behavior. This contact is good for both the baby and the mother. The smell of the offspring causes the mother to release oxytocin , which makes her feel pleasure and pass on this pleasure in the form of love to the baby! Imprinting in humans is the newborn’s stare into his mother’s eyes. A solid bond starts to be built from conception and quickly moves towards a behavior of great attachment. Bowlby cites 5 criteria for this behavior:suck, cry, look, smile and grab the mother . Since babies, we can observe these attitudes in newborns and we can see that they are attitudes to stay close to the mother, to look for her.
The relationship between mother and child has always been inexplicable and I believe that even if science tries to help us discover the reasons for this enigmatic love, only the heart of a mother can understand. Whether because of imprinting, attachment or any other explanation, we are capable of anything for them. We change, we improve, we cry, we change our whole life and, even so, everything is rewarded by the smile of a child.
Text above by Michele Melão from Maternitycoach.com.br
Imprinting, my first time!
I remember the first time I saw my children so well … I think that for all women this first contact with the baby is very strong. After waiting a long 9 months for birth, when we finally find ourselves without a small screen to intermediate this meeting, it is so true, so intense that it marks this phase. With Joana, the time I saw her was short, everything was very fast but the love was as intense as the other times. I fell in love with those brown eyes the first time I saw her. With Dudu it was so much fun… He already got off his stomach making a mess! As soon as the doctor took it out of his belly he went pooping! But as soon as the doctor brought it, I knew it was the best thing that could happen to me.
Melissa was the impression of her father and mother, because for the first time, Marcos can participate in the birth of a child and it was as exciting for him as it was for me. Despite not having the hormonal issue for imprinting, birth took him as hard as it took me! Getting pregnant is an experience that every woman should experience, finding her child for the first time is really exciting. With Joana it was a super fast contact and yet it was love at first sight! I only knew what imprinting was a short time ago but I already knew it before I knew that was the name he carried, incidentally nesting the baby in the breast is a very strong form of imprinting , breastfeeding favors it to happen more deeply.
Patricia Amorim
See also: Five Reasons Mothers Sleep When Babies Sleep
My name is Dr. Alexis Hart I am 38 years old, I am the mother of 3 beautiful children! Different ages, different phases 16 years, 12 years and 7 years. In love with motherhood since always, I found it difficult to make my dreams come true, and also some more after I was already a mother.
Since I imagined myself as a mother, in my thoughts everything seemed to be much easier and simpler than it really was, I expected to get pregnant as soon as I wished, but it wasn’t that simple. The first pregnancy was smooth, but my daughter’s birth was very troubled. Joana was born in 2002 with a weight of 2930kg and 45cm, from a very peaceful cesarean delivery but she had already been born with congenital pneumonia due to a broken bag not treated with antibiotics even before delivery.
