http://www.midwiferytoday.com/articles/firsthour.asp

by michel Odent

The hour following birth is undoubtedly one of the most critical phases in the life of human beings. It is not by chance that all human groups have routinely disturbed the physiological processes in this short period of time, via beliefs and rituals. Our cultural milieus are to a great extent shaped at the very beginning of the mother-newborn interaction.

The first hour following birth may be looked at from a multitude of complementary perspectives. My objective is to catalogue 12 such perspectives to demonstrate the real dimension of this enormous subject.

Perspective 1: The sudden need to breathe
Perspective 2: The behavioral effects of hormones
Perspective 3: The perspective of ethologists
Perspective 4: The first hour as the beginning of lactation
Perspective 5: First hour and metabolic adaptation
Perspective 6: The bacteriological point of view
Perspective 7: Starting up the process of thermoregulation
Perspective 8: Adaptation to gravity
Perspective 9: The ethnological approach
Perspective 10: The obstetrical approach
Perspective 11: The midwifery approach
Perspective 12: A Political Note