Chapter One

Open Your Mind

Immediately after birth, most but by no means all, mothers experience a surge of affection that is followed by a feeling that the baby belongs to them. The relationship between mother and child may develop gradually and strengthen over time. Occurring during this same time period the newborn brain is developing very rapidly for the first two to three years of life.

Early neglect is all too often the precursor of later neglect. When the child remains subjected to deprivation, inadequate or insensitive care, lack of affection, and low-levels of stimulation or poor education over long periods, later adjustment is likely to be severely compromised.

It is true that the mother and infant bonding experience may not occur at all or be delayed under certain conditions. Trauma during childbirth overpowers the natural surge for the mother and child to bond. Both verbal and physical violence interferes, slows down and may stop labor and the birth process altogether.

Under these traumatic circumstances, oxygen deprivation for the newborn will occur while in the birth canal. Sometimes this will result in serious neurological damage. The most prevalent effect will be physical and emotional trauma to both the newborn and mother. Often evidence can be confirmed in the afterbirth that will reveal a hemorrhaged placenta. Additionally meconium most likely will be present in the discharge fluid.

In theory, the increased contact at any time during the first days after birth produces a long-term improvement in the quality of the relationship be