From Womb to World The first three months BY LYNNE CAMPEY – REGISTERED NURSE/ MIDWIFE, AND CHILD & FAMILY HEALTH NURSE
Becoming a parent is a crash course in skills that there is very little preparation for! Often our exposure to babies prior to jumping into the parenting pool is limited and the newborn period (the first three months) can be very challenging trying to understand our baby’s needs. From womb to world. It is important to acknowledge the significance of all the changes that the baby has gone through from life in the womb to life in the outside world. This
20
O N T H E C OA S T – FAM ILIES
transition is the most radical period a human experiences in their entire life. At the moment of birth, babies suddenly need to manage all their own breathing, eating, pooping, temperature regulation, as well as adjust to a rather scary, loud and bright big world! The 4th trimester One descriptive term that I find helps to understand the newborn period is to label it “The 4th Trimester”. Just as we have expectations of our baby’s growth and the physical changes that occur during the pregnancy trimesters, it is helpful to understand that our baby does not arrive to the world fully ready to manage all the changes that come with
being born. Typically, it takes around 3 months for the baby to start to settle in to all these system changes which explains why the intense newborn crying period often starts to self–regulate at around 3 months. What is normal crying? The newborn crying period is sometimes called “colic”, which unfortunately can give the false impression that the crying is digestion related. The crying can be intense lasting up to 5 hours a day and can cause a lot of parental anxiety. This crying period typically starts in week 2 and peaks around week 6. Studies show that in most cases this normal developmental stage will pass no
