The last antenatal class was all about caring for the baby after the birth, what happens at the hospital after birth and what admin you are required to do.
Craig and I are both the youngest in our families and we haven’t had any nephews and nieces we’ve had to look after when they were babies (partly because we’ve been living abroad).
Nowadays one doesn’t really help the family as much as people did in the old days I think. Maybe we feel like failures if we ask for help........Anyway, the class was most interesting, informative, and very needed for us.
Did you know that 1 in 8 people have post natal depression? That is a scary statistic. Post natal depression only really exist in our western society and a big factor to that is that when we get babies and stay at home our ‘status’ goes down. (I have put ‘status’ in ‘ ‘ because I think it is a silly and a made up pressure we people put on others and most of all on ourselves and it is not making anyone happy).
Another scary statistic - 50% of women that have epidural end up having an emergency caesarean. Sorry just some interesting stats for you...
The midwife, who took the class, has had a very exciting life. She has spent longer periods being a midwife in places like Bali, Africa and in the aboriginal society here in OZ and was able to give us various cultures’ perspective on childbirth, child care etc.
I believe different cultures are fascinating and when it comes to childbirth and the basic care of children we probably have it turned upside down in the western society. But what can we do...
Apart from PND we spoke about breastfeeding and its benefits and how to settle a baby when it cries and of course the reasons why it cries. Many of the things you know but there were a couple if things which I will try to remember for my baby -
1. A sling is fantastic when I baby feels unsettled. A sling makes the baby feel secure and again part of the mother’s or father’s body
2. Babies get tired very quickly when we consistanly look into their eyes. If the baby looks away, start fidgeting and obviously cry, give them a rest and put them on your shoulders etc. Just concentrating on looking at someone is a big thing for a baby and one should think about that when a baby gets passed around to the whole family
3. Bathing is a great way to settle a baby
4. when welcoming a baby to the world it is nice to have dimmed lights (remember it is dark in the womb) and have the baby skin to skin for at least an hour. And the fathers skin too!
What else....????? See I have a terrible memory. There were so many things I thought I would tell you about.
Ah, breast feeding is good for increased IQ – I will certainly try the breast feeding thing as I am sure the baby needs all the IQ it can get coming from me.
I am sure you know most of these things anyway so no point me repeating them all.
On another note, we are getting a tummy tub from my cousin in law’s wife (and family of course). What do you call a cousin in law’s wife? I thought maybe cousin in law....
She swears by it and says that her little one loves it. This is her daughter Meka enjoying her bath. Isn’t she just adorable? The tub is suppose to resemble the womb. I think it looks so cute and can’t wait to put my little one in it.
Oh well, I leave you with that for today.
Enjoy!
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