The document discusses several topics related to birth and newborns, including hormones involved in labor and delivery, the stages of labor, assessing a newborn's health, bonding with the newborn, approaches to childbirth, risks for preterm and low birthweight babies, causes of infant mortality, postpartum depression, reflexes and learning capabilities of newborns, and their ability to interact with others.

1. Birth & Being a Newborn

2. Birth Birth Hormones Corticotrophic-releasing Hormone A stress hormone. It triggers the release of other hormones. Oxytocin An attachment hormone. Begins uterine contractions. Endorphins Pleasure hormones. Help in some of the pain. Epinephrine & Norepinephrine The catecholamines. They activate the sympathetic nervous system. Prolactin Involved in submission or surrender. Triggers the ability to breastfeed.

3. The Stages of Labor First Stage: Longest stage. Uterine contractions occur every 8 – 10 minutes and last about 30 seconds. Second Stage: Lasts about 90 minutes. The head emerges & with each contraction the vaginal opening increases in size. Third Stage: Umbilical cord & placenta are expelled from the mother.

4. The Neonate Birth Occurs when the fetus emerges from the mother’s body Checking the Neonate’s Health Apgar scale Appearance, Pulse, Grimace, Activity, & Respiration, Assessing reflexes N eonatal B ehavioral A ssessment S cale (NBAS) 18 item test to evaluate 4 systems: autonomic, motor, state, & social

5. Bonding Close Physical & Emotional Contact Between an Infant & the Mother Controversial theory Seen as important to form a lasting relationship Neonates need to be touched & massaged after birth

6. Approaches to Childbirth LaMaze Weekly training sessions to teach relaxation & breathing Natural Childbirth Birth without drugs or surgery; involves coaching & classes LeBoyer Birth without violence Caesarian Section Medical procedure; generally used in problem births

7. Preterm Infants Born Prior to 38 weeks At high risk for illness or death Low-birthweight Weighing less than 5 ½ pounds Small-for-gestational-age Weigh less than 90% of the average Causes About ½ unexplained Stress on the mother’s reproductive system Father’s age Mother’s general health

8. Infant Mortality Death in the 1 st Year After Birth 1 in 100 births is stillbirth African American babies 2X more likely to die than Caucasian Infant mortality rate in U.S. very high for a developed country High rate of preterm & low- birthweight babies High rate of poverty Prenatal services not as good as other countries

9. Postpartum Depression Deep Depression following Childbirth 10% of mothers 1 in 500 have the worst symptoms Who? Those clinically depressed before Those with family members who were depressed Those unprepared for the emotional upheavals after a birth

10. What the Neonate Can Do Reflexes Unlearned, organized involuntary responses that assist in life outside the womb. Senses Vision is not fully developed. Hearing, touch, smell, & taste well-developed.

11. What the Neonate Can Do Learning Capabilities Classical Conditioning Is operating from birth Operant Conditioning Acting deliberately on the environment Crying brings attention Habituation A decrease in response to a stimulus Linked to physical & cognitive maturation Present at birth & becomes more pronounced over the 1 st 12 weeks Responding to Others Imitation Infants imitate others’ expressions This is the foundation for social interaction States of Arousal Regularization of sleep/wakefulness cycles With caregivers seeking to assist in the regularization of cycles social interaction is promoted Speech by the caregivers aids social interaction