Tuesday, 27 February 2018

How babies are adapted to the physiological status of his mother

The classic image in the New Year where the old father of time represents the year that just ended while the New Year banned baby emerges on stage, announces the iconic star of a conference that San Diego attended recently. Sponsored by the Association of Psychology and Prenatal and Perinatal Health (APPPAH), the international congress addressed scientific and psychosocial discoveries focused on the "conscious baby".

Founded in 1983 by Canadian psychiatrist Thomas R. Verny MD and David Chamberlain Ph.D., APPPAH began as a small group of people who shared an interest in the sensitivity and awareness of babies.

Barbara Decker, president of the association and parent educator, explains: "Their premise is that babies have experiences in the womb: hospitable or unwelcome, feeling the fear or love that impresses the baby in the womb.

Members agree that prenatal antenatal experiences, as well as labor, delivery, and breastfeeding, are coaches for babies and parents while establishing lifelong sociability models.

True to their mission to educate people, researchers present scientific discoveries to prove that babies are sentient and sensitive beings. Evidence shows that what the baby experiences during conception, pregnancy, and birth has lifelong consequences.

Dr. Verny's speech inaugurated the event that details advances in neuroscience and its relevance to pre and perinatal psychology. As Decker explains, "Neuroscience shows that chronic stress hormones that pass through the mother cause architectural changes in the baby's brain that prepare the baby for a life of fear and protection instead of love and compassion ... the basis of a emotional intelligence and a healthy self-esteem or a life of fear and need for protection. "

Developmental researcher Katharine Monk, Ph.D., of Columbia University, has presented important findings of what she calls "the mother-baby dyad during pregnancy." Due to his brain development, the fetus perceives and is affected by the life of his mother. Monk explains how, in the middle of pregnancy, most of the 80-90 billion neurons we have are already produced. Neuronal migration (when neurons move in their locations) culminates in the middle of pregnancy and 40,000 new synapses are formed per second at the end of the third trimester.

In the third trimester, the motor, visual, auditory, frontal and temporal networks of the fetus are operative. After birth, babies prefer breast milk to that of another mother because the smell of amniotic fluid is similar to that of breast milk. Babies prefer their mother's voice to that of another woman, because after nine months together, the baby has become accustomed to the prosodic tones of her own mother.

Monk points out that although the fetus is hidden, it remains receptive to maternal transmissions and this moment represents a great opportunity for intervention. Neuroplasticity refers to the way in which influences shape the brain during development. Monk cites research that shows that brains are formed differently depending on the anxiety of the mother during pregnancy. The mother communicates with her fetus, through the cortisol that crosses the placenta, to prepare for a dangerous world. The adequacy of the baby and its environment determines whether the parents and the child are in the appropriateness. If a reactive baby has a receptive mother, both will feel uncomfortable.

An intervention developed by Monk begins during pregnancy and focuses on three areas. These include, by optimizing the regulation of the baby who believes that a mother wants the best for her baby, so she learns tools that will help her baby to sleep. Mindfulness is another focal point. This healthy practice is introduced to teach the mother the ability to regulate her own subjective and physiological state. And, finally, psychological and developmental education is included so that the new mother knows what to expect from her baby.

Monk's intervention, which he calls PREPP (Practical Resources for Effective Postpartum Parenting), begins with visits during pregnancy, after birth, and during the postpartum period. Participating mothers have no wasting and staying on course reduces the incidence of postpartum depression by 50%. This robust protocol should be implemented everywhere. Its success is that it eliminates the stigma of seeking mental health treatment for postpartum depression and instead recognizes the mother and child as a dyad: the intervention is for both.

The importance of the brain in development was emphasized by another expert speaker in moral development.

Psychologist Darcia Narvaez, Ph.D., of the University of Notre Dame, presented her research "The Evolved Nest: What Children Need to Succeed." Narváez considers the first 18 months of life as a crucial period for brain development, which denotes the need for an enriched environment of protection that she calls the developed evolutionary niche, also known as "the nest".

The benefits of Nest include self-regulation, for example, how the child handles unexpected events and adapts to stress. The child evolving from the protective nest evokes an agile intelligence to fend for himself in the world and with the world.

The components of the nest include a relaxing calving experience; Breastfeeding; receptivity to the needs of the baby; the illness; Outdoor play: develop the implicit right brain; and adult caregivers who provide respite and training for new parents. According to Narváez, the context (based on the development of our brain at birth) is that we should be in the uterus for another 18 months. When the nest is not provided, the baby suffers.

A relaxing calving experience includes connecting the mother and the baby with skin-to-skin contact immediately after birth to encourage breastfeeding (milk defines us as mammals, that is, with the mammary glands). Human milk is thin, which means that babies are meant to digest it often. Breast milk is living food and can detect, through the baby's saliva, if the baby has a virus and if the milk produces the antibody against the virus. If the baby weighs very little, breast milk detects it and fattens it.

In summary, Narváez advises us to restore tenderness in all relationships with young children and adolescents. The nest provides this tenderness and includes: calming birth, on-demand breastfeeding for babies, responsiveness (do not allow babies to cry to create cortisol that melts their neurons), affection (without whipping or coercion) and friendly adult caregivers foster a positive climate for the child to feel loved. When the niche is provided, optimal development will be obtained.

Drs. The work of Verny, Chamberlain, Monk, and Narvaez does justice to APPPAH and represents the academic caliber that contributes to the conversation. The association offers many educational opportunities, including an online course of pre and perinatal psychology educators, as well as regional and international congresses. A visit to your website will show you your multimedia file resources. 

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