Liz Baldwin asked several questions related to these quotes: "Children are
not born knowing who their parents are - they cannot be said to be attached
at birth (Solomon & Zeynep Biringen 2001)." and "...there is general
agreement that attachment bonds develop from familiarity with particular
individuals in the context of predictable interactions (Waters,
Kondo-Ikemura, Posada, & Richters 1991)."

I do not see how the statement "babies cannot be said to be attached at
birth" can be supported with evidence from the available physiological,
psychological or anthropological research. It reminds me of the very
obsolete psychological theory that a baby is born with a mind like a blank
slate (i.e., no learning occurred in utero) and the equally obsolete
physiological theory that babies are born unable to feel pain.

Milk content and infant brain development show that human beings are a
carrier species. I don't know of any non-human carrier species mother who
gives birth and hands her newborn over to another caregiver voluntarily
under normal conditions for her species. This alone indicates that
attachment between the birth mother and her baby is biologically normal
(that is, it plays an important role in the survival and normal development
of the infant). The fact that babies can be adopted and can thrive under
the tender care of their adoptive mothers does not negate the importance of
that role. It simply indicates that babies are capable of forming other
attachments and of adapting to another set of conditions when the birth
mother is not available. Thank goodness for that.

Furthermore, culture greatly determines who gets the right to define
concepts (like attachment), how they define it, and what kind of evidence
is deemed satisfactory for answering questions. There is no such thing as
unbiased research, theories or concepts. In Western societies, a scientist
researching and theorizing about the issue of attachment is deemed to have
the right to know whether a baby is attached at birth. At the same time,
Western societies tend to hold independence in extremely high regard. The
mother-baby pair peacefully experiencing the physiologically familiar
entwinement of breastfeeding after birth is deemed to not have the right to
know about attachment, even though they are the ones actually experiencing
it! Their experience does not match the culturally defined criteria of
acceptable evidence in Western societies.

Nonetheless, scientifically speaking, the mother's unique combination of
breathing, heartbeat and voice has already been consistently experienced by
the newborn. In the very least, the newborn is familiar with these aspects
of her mother. Also, human beings are physiologically geared to adapt to
constant environmental stimuli and to respond to a change in that stimuli.
(I can't feel the ring on my finger, but I will notice right away if it has
slipped off.) The baby who is placed in his mother's arms after birth will
experience the familiar stimuli of her particular heartbeat, breathing and
voice. The baby who is placed anywhere else will experience their absence.
I do not see how this can be irrelevant to the newborn's experience of life
after birth or how this can fail to qualify as "familiarity." I would find
it unethical to disrupt entwinement so that we can further scientifically
analyze in detail the response of a baby to being placed anywhere but in
his mother's arms after birth.

(A reminder: I post to LACTNET in my non-LLL roles.)

Cynthia

Cynthia Good Mojab, MS Clinical Psychology
(Breastfeeding mother, advocate, independent [cross-cultural] researcher
and author; LLL Leader and Research Associate in the LLLI Publications
Department; and former psychotherapist currently busy nurturing her own
little one.)
Ammawell
Email: [log in to unmask]
Web site: http://members.home.net/ammawell

             ***********************************************
The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM)
mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html