I saw a reel on how african doctors will slap the baby for them to cry and i know for a fact that this is true and there must be a reason behind it but i just don’t get it
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A good strong cry indicates that the newborn is breathing well. If there’s no cry, it essentially means the respiration is poor or the baby might’ve gone for asphyxia. I don’t think they ‘slap’, but after performing initial resuscitation steps like giving warmth, positioning the baby to keep airway open, suctioning off the secretions in mouth and nose and drying the baby.. stimulus like gentle and brief rubbing of the newborn’s back, trunk or extremities is given which can improve the respiratory efforts of the baby.
Well, as I’m sure has been stated a million times now, the baby needs a crash course in taking a breath. Also, baby crying stimulates lactation in mom so she can get that important first feed in. That first breastfeeding is like giving babies their first inoculations, jump-starts their immune system with mom’s antibodies, and starts that all-important emotional bonding.
It serves a few purposes. The first one has been mentioned a few times: it allows the lungs to expand and the amniotic fluid to clear out.
While in the womb, the most oxygenated blood (coming from the placenta) gets quickly directed up to the brain. This requires a series of valves that function until the baby takes their first breath, then the pressure change from them breathing/crying closes those valves so the vascular system can run properly in the newborn.
When people say “the baby was born with a hole in their heart”, they’re usually referring to the failure of the valve between the left and right atria (foramen ovale) to seal completely upon that first breath.
It is not important. Neither of my two cried and nobody felt the need to slap them. My oldest was making a kind of “uh-huh, uh-huh” sound on his way to the teat.
Babies get blood with oxygen from the umbilical cord which is cut during childbirth, so it’s important that the baby starts to breathe. A complication is that the baby’s nose, sinuses and lungs had no air in them in the uterus, and may be filled with amniotic fluid. That’s why back in the day the doctor would hold the baby upside down and slap its bottom to flush fluid and encourage the baby to breathe by crying.
Not a doc, but I have heard that the babies first breath is also their hardest to take. The lungs are two deflated wet sacks, and inflating them requires more effort. So slapping their back causes the babies to gasp, and that sharp inhale helps inflate the lungs for the first time.
More than willing to be wrong, but it sure sounds plausible.
Pediatrician here.
1) crying is breathing
2) crying is forcing air out through closed vocal cords. This increases the air pressure in the lungs, which helps drive retained amniotic fluid in the lungs back into the circulation so that the lungs can fill with air.
My mom told me i was born NOT crying. They had to do stuff with me to make me cry. Relief was in the room when I finally cried.
Oxygen is important; when a baby is crying it’s pretty evident they can breathe. When my son was born he wasn’t breathing. They had to “help” him breathe for about half an hour. Scariest moment of my life by far.
-A crying baby is a baby with a functioning circulatory and respiratory system
Science speak:
In the womb, a baby doesn’t breathe the air via It’s lungs. Gas exchange occurs in the placenta, and that’ where baby gets his oxygen from. When the baby is born, its circulatory system rejigs itself, shunting blood to the lungs: and pathways both open up and slam shut to allow this. )ductus arteriosus (DA) flow changes from right-to-left to left-to-right and contributes considerably to the increase in pulmonary blood flow).
Crying helps these changes occur and assist the baby in transitioning to having their new little circulatory pathways be happy. Crying can help assist with the ventricular output required for this shunting to occur.
Crying also allows for all the “grape bunch” shaped alveoli in the little lungs to expand and increase the surface area of the alveoli. The alveoli are what allow for gas exchange (O2 and CO2) to happen.
A crying baby is usually a happy baby but the absence of crying in and of itself is not problematic. Sometimes they come out pink and happy and calm and just don’t cry. But that’s definitely not the norm.
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