Breast crawl is the

instinct Instinct is the inherent inclination of a living organism towards a particular complex behaviour, containing innate (inborn) elements. The simplest example of an instinctive behaviour is a fixed action pattern (FAP), in which a very short to me ...

ive movement of a

newborn In common terminology, a baby is the very young offspring of adult human beings, while infant (from the Latin word ''infans'', meaning 'baby' or 'child') is a formal or specialised synonym. The terms may also be used to refer to Juvenile (orga ...

mammal A mammal () is a vertebrate animal of the Class (biology), class Mammalia (). Mammals are characterised by the presence of milk-producing mammary glands for feeding their young, a broad neocortex region of the brain, fur or hair, and three ...

toward the

nipple The nipple is a raised region of tissue on the surface of the breast from which, in lactating females, breast milk, milk from the mammary gland leaves the body through the lactiferous ducts to Breastfeeding, nurse an infant. The milk can flow th ...

of its mother for the purpose of latching on to initiate

breastfeeding Breastfeeding, also known as nursing, is the process where breast milk is fed to a child. Infants may suck the milk directly from the breast, or milk may be extracted with a Breast pump, pump and then fed to the infant. The World Health Orga ...

. In humans, if the newborn is laid on its mother's abdomen, movements commence at 12 to 44 minutes after birth, with spontaneous suckling being achieved roughly 27 to 71 minutes after birth.

Background

The Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative, developed by the

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a list of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations which coordinates responses to international public health issues and emergencies. It is headquartered in Gen ...

and

UNICEF UNICEF ( ), originally the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund, officially United Nations Children's Fund since 1953, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Development a ...

, recommends that all babies have access to immediate skin-to-skin contact (SSC) following vaginal or

Caesarean section Caesarean section, also known as C-section, cesarean, or caesarean delivery, is the Surgery, surgical procedure by which one or more babies are Childbirth, delivered through an incision in the mother's abdomen. It is often performed because va ...

birth. Immediate SSC after a Caesarean that used spinal or epidural anesthesia is achievable because the mother remains alert; however, after the use of

general anesthesia General anaesthesia (UK) or general anesthesia (US) is medically induced loss of consciousness that renders a patient unarousable even by painful stimuli. It is achieved through medications, which can be injected or inhaled, often with an analgesi ...

, the newborn should be placed skin to skin as soon as the mother becomes alert and responsive. If the mother is not immediately able to begin SSC, her partner or other helper can assist or place the infant SSC on their chest or breast. It is recommended that SSC be facilitated immediately after birth, as this is the time when the newborn is most likely to follow its natural instincts to find and attach to the breast and then breastfeed. To find the nipple, the newborn uses a variety of sensory stimuli: visual (the sight of the mother's face and

areola The human areola (''areola mammae'', or ) is the pigmented area on the breast around the nipple. More generally, an areola is a small circular area on the Human body, body with a different histology from the surrounding Tissue (biology), tissue ...

); auditory (the sound of its mother's voice); and olfactory (the scent of the areola, which resembles that of

amniotic fluid The amniotic fluid is the protective liquid contained by the amniotic sac of a gravid amniote. This fluid serves as a cushion for the growing fetus, but also serves to facilitate the exchange of nutrients, water, and biochemical products betwee ...

Nine stages of breast crawl

Newborn babies go through nine distinct stages after birth within the first hour or so: * Birth cry: Intense crying just after birth *Relaxation phase: Infant resting and recovering. No activity of mouth, head, arms, legs or body *Awakening phase: Infant begins to show signs of activity. Small thrusts of head: up, down, from side-to-side. Small movements of limbs and shoulders *Active phase: Infant moves limbs and head, is more determined in movements. Rooting activity, ‘pushing’ with limbs without shifting body *Crawling phase: ‘Pushing’ which results in shifting body *Resting phase: Infant rests, with some activity, such as mouth activity, sucks on hand * Familiarization: Infant has reached areola/nipple with mouth positioned to brush and lick areola/nipple *Suckling phase: Infant has taken nipple in mouth and commences suckling *Sleeping phase: The baby has closed its eyes. Mother may also fall asleep.{{cite web , title=Breastfeeding After Cesarean Birth , url=https://www.llli.org/breastfeeding-info/breastfeeding-cesarean-birth/ , website=Le Leche League

References

Breastfeeding Ethology Babycare