The Gift of Birth

"Remember that birth, as a gift,

was not meant to be scary.

It was meant as an exercise in honouring yourself and

in learning to depend on your inner strength.

It was meant to make you feel more powerful and

more capable than you were before the experience."

Lakshmi Bertram

SWADDLING your baby......is it safe?

Check out the safe sleep recommendation from the http://www.perinatalservicesbc.ca/ safe sleep environment guidelines issued in March 2011 from the Perinatal Services of British Columbia. In it you will find evidence based information regarding SWADDLING babies. According to this guideline there are more risks associated with swaddling than there are benefits. In fact one study found that babies that died of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) a surprising 1/4 of those babies were found to be swaddled. I have seen some of the popular books out there that suggest a structured, scheduled and swaddling system to help babies sleep and honestly some of the recommendations in these books are not evidence based and are possibly not safe. Not all babies actually like swaddling, plus finding the breast by using their upper body would be greatly restricted if the baby is swaddled. We know that normal breastfed babies are not usually on a predicatable sleep schedule and that making a baby fit a certain system can be stressful on babies and often these babies have been found to not have enough weight gain at the 6 months mark. Arrangement of beds, smoking and drinking are also covered in this guidline. The "Back to Sleep Program" that was inititated by the Canadian government years ago has definately made a difference in the number of SIDS babies. The recommendation was to put babies to sleep on their back and remains in effect to this day. Make sure you are up to date on this very important issue your baby is worth it!