Beyond birth: Supporting maternal, infant physiology after birth

Commonly, there is a sense that once the baby has been safely birthed, the important work is finished. Conversely, the hour immediately after birth is crucial to the psychobiological health for all mothers and babies, and the effects are evident well into the postnatal period and beyond. Understanding what the primitive mammalian motherinfant dyad are expecting to survive and optimise their post-birth health, we can reflect on what and how our practices affect this important emerging relationship. This final article in the Normal Birth series will explode the misunderstanding that physiological birth ceases with the birth, providing you with the knowledge to support this critical period.