Beautiful Strength of Primordial Instinct or Abomination? Opinions are divided on this, but experts know why some mothers take this step.
You never know how you’re going to react the moment your baby is born. You might laugh, you might cry, or you might even do both at the same time. But what about licking your baby? Yep, some new moms have an urge to lick their babies after birth, and it’s not as strange as it might seem. In fact, it’s truly an act of love.
Ludy Siqueira is a Brazilian photographer who specializes in capturing births. She recently accepted another assignment, which turned out to be quite different from the others she took part in. The pregnant woman did not want to give birth in bed and walked for many hours to speed up the labor. At the end, she moved to the shower, and it was there that her baby was born. Something the new mother did a moment later divided the public.
The woman took the child in her arms and began to lick it on the body, thus wanting to remove the remains of ʙʟᴏᴏᴅ and other body ꜰʟᴜɪᴅs. Like an animal, she cleaned it in this way, even though the baby had been pre-rinsed with water.
When Ludy Siqueira published her client’s childbirth materials on the Web, many Internet users found her mother’s behavior ᴅɪsɢᴜsᴛɪɴɢ and inappropriate. Their opinion is contrary to the experts’ opinion about the situation. According to them, licking a baby after birth is a primal instinct that should not be avoided or ashamed of.
“There is a reason for this. On the one hand, all ᴄᴏɴᴛᴀᴍɪɴᴀɴᴛs that may prove ᴅᴀɴɢᴇʀᴏᴜs to the offspring can be removed in this way: ᴅᴇᴀᴅ skin, ʙʟᴏᴏᴅ, ʙᴀᴄᴛᴇʀɪᴀ, ᴠɪʀᴜsᴇs, and the like. Another reason is the bond between mother and child. Their instincts tell them that they should be so,” Lee Dugatin, a naturalist, said.
Licking offspring after giving birth is a reflex that many mothers show. It is not only practical, but also an expression of care, love, and devotion. It is also a confirmation of the bond between a woman and a newborn baby, just like animals who cleanse their newborn babies in the same way.
That explains why skin-to-skin contact is so important in the immediate moments after birth, and done in conjunction with licking, it helps make your baby feel safe and secure.
We wonder what you think about licking your baby after its birth. Can you imagine doing something like this?
