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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I’m a registered nurse and midwife. The other comments have done a great job explaining that crying = breathing, and the baby doesn’t necessarily need to cry to breathe. They cry most of the time, though. I just wanted to add that nobody slaps babies anymore (at least in my country). It’s seen as outdated and unnecessarily traumatizing. You see it in the movies, but I’ve personally never witnessed someone actually slap a baby. We just rub the baby somewhat vigorously with a towel, and that does the trick. If the baby still doesn’t cry, there’s a far bigger problem at hand that a slap won’t fix.
Crying isn’t actually necessary. I have seen a number of births where the baby comes out serene and pink up just fine. It is much easier to tell that baby is doing the breathing they need to be if they are screaming though and it does also help clear any mucus from their lungs.
When my daughter (14 now) was born, I panicked as she didn’t cry. I asked why to the old ob gyn. He asked me : why would your want her to cry? She’s fine! I waited a little bit and she started more like moaning because of the cold as she was being cleaned right before they put her in my arms. Fell in love right there.
You’re supposed to stimulate the baby right after it comes out, and give it an “APGAR” score
-Appearance
-Pulse
-Grimace
-Activity
-Respiratory
Each of those is scored 0-2, so maximum of 10. Crying is an indicator of grimace and also respiration so it’s important.
My youngest didn’t cry after birth. It was a big red flag alerting the doctors that he wasn’t breathing properly. They tried to get him to cry but he started grunting which was a distress sign. His lungs had collapsed
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