What is the first reaction of a new mother when her baby is put in her arms? Let us take a look at how a new mother feels after giving birth to a baby.Giving birth to a baby changes the life of a woman completely. Once she becomes a mother, her world revolves completely around her baby. But how does a woman feel the moment her baby is born? What kinds of feelings and emotions does she have to tackle? Read on to understand the phase which a mother may pass through immediately after giving birth to her baby.
Will it be love at first sight for the baby and me?
Books and films can be quite misleading on this subject. It is not surprising if you do not feel a surge of maternal love when your baby is put into your arms for the first time. Physical closeness between mother and child after birth does not necessarily signify emotional closeness.
What are a new mother’s first feelings?
The new mother's first feeling is usually one of overwhelming relief that the ordeal is over and that she has a normal baby. It is not unnatural for you to feel that your baby is a stranger and to feel little more than neutral towards her. One study has shown that it takes an average of two weeks (and sometimes as long as nine weeks) for a mother to begin to have positive feelings towards her child.
What is the first reaction of a new mother?
The reaction of a mother to her newborn will depend on several factors: how long and painful her
labour was, how she felt about having the baby, her previous interaction with babies, her relationship with her husband, general health and stress levels, and most importantly, her personality.
Give yourself and the baby a chance to get acquainted and the love will grow slowly and naturally.
How can new mothers strengthen the bond?
The bond of love between a mother and child will grow strong naturally as the mother and child spend time with each other.
Breastfeeding is one of the most important and beautiful ways to bond with the baby.
To make this bond even stronger, mothers can start talking to their babies, singing songs, telling stories etc. Although, it is too early to do all these activities, it can help to stimulate baby’s senses. Babies who are talked to develop speaking skill early and they learn to speak early. Talking, singing songs, telling stories etc; to babies also promote their brain development. When your baby grows a little older, you can also get picture books for her in order to boost her brain development as well as her observational skills.
What is postnatal depression?
1 out of every 10 women feel depressed after giving birth to a baby due to the
changes that take place in her life. This kind of depression experienced by new mothers is known as postnatal depression. This kind of depression can also be experienced within a year of giving birth to a baby. The symptoms of postnatal depression may last for one or two weeks.
If you are a new mother and experiencing symptoms of postnatal depression like difficulty in
bonding with baby, sleep problems, feeling of sadness, lack of interest in anything, mood swings, not feeling like talking to anyone and other negative feelings, you must not cope alone. You must seek help from a professional or talk to your partner or other family members. Coping with the symptoms of postnatal depression alone can be risky.
Postnatal depression can create barriers for developing the beautiful bond of love between you and your baby. So, you must seek help immediately. This time will not come again, so make sure that you do your best to be a good mother.