ABSTRACT
Bonding can feel like a magical process: some parents are struck, all of a sudden and soon after the birth, but bonding is not just about a flash of lightning between mother and baby. In Why Love Matters, Sue Gerhardt explained that ‘babies’ resources are so limited that they cannot keep themselves alive, so it is very stressful if the mother is not there or does not respond quickly’. Oxytocin is such a key player that artificial oxytocin is given to speed up deliveries. The benefits of medication during labour are great, although large amounts can leave mother and baby still very drowsy so that they partly miss out on this first encounter. Difficult births can make for a more complicated start between mother and baby and can affect how the mother is able to influence the baby’s physiological processes, his feeding and sleep-wake rhythms.
