DONA Int. recently shared an article about stroking infants in the first few weeks of life and how it affects them later in life. They are attempting to find out if women who have stressful pregnancies should be told to stroke their babies. I wonder what the harm is? Why not suggest that a mother stroke her baby anyway? Personally I know that it helped me to recover from PTSD after the traumatic birth of my daughter if I purposfully gave her more attention.
It is also helpful for babies whose heart rates are unstable to be on their mother’s chest skin to skin, it comes naturally for most in this position to stroke their babies. I can’t imagine any harm from stroking a newborn baby.
Have a Cherished Birth
Your Cherished Birth 