In a message dated 4/7/2005 6:37:52 PM Eastern Daylight Time, [log in to unmask] writes: Why would it not just go through their digestive system like any other fluid? Like Ann said, it makes no sense that this fluid would need to come out through the mouth to make a baby feel better. I have always heard that c/s babies, especially planned c/s, and babies from a fast delivery are more spitty because they did not get the fluid squeezed out of them. What I see these babies do I would classify as vomiting. They are not just dribbling fluid out of their mouth like a baby does after a good meal. I always associate vomiting with an infection or stress. Do other mammals gag and vomit after they are born? Dear Friends: Duh..........how can I be so stupid not to see this more clearly? I would bet that other animals don't vomit or choke, or at least not to that extent. Many littering animals have their newborns come in little packages; the mother tears the sacs open with her teeth and may eat them. She then licks the baby all over for quite a while. Here is another perversion of truth; we have been taught one thing (babies need to be suctioned to get that fluid out) to avoid dealing with a truth, that babies NEED that squeeze (and maybe for differing lengths of time depending on pelvic bone diameters, the laboring environment, and the size and position of the baby??) We see wet babies more now, because now close to 1 baby in 3 is delivered ( I can not call it born) surgically, without labor. Dr. Michel Odent (in another gem of a book, The Cesarean) speaks of the need to distinguish between labor and non-labor surgeries. It makes a difference. Then those wet babies get sucked out and guess what??? They aren't so eager to go to breast. They would rather go back in their shells like wee, darling turtles, and refuse to breastfeed. They have been violently invaded, assaulted, and injured. They have to heal to get back into the green, oxytocin zone. The postnatal rituals put babies in the red, adrenalin zone.) Smart babies. warmly, Nikki Lee RN, MS, Mother of 2, IBCLC, CCE Maternal-Child Adjunct Faculty Union Institute and University Film Reviews Editor, Journal of Human Lactation Support the WHO Code and the Mother-Friendly Childbirth Initiative *********************************************** To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest) To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet All commands go to [log in to unmask] The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(R) mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html