The following is purely anecdotal (grandmothers stories) but interesting in the light of all the discussion on biological nurturing.
Yes the euphoria is mine - our 10th grandchild was born in the early hours of yesterday morning, first baby for our daughter-in-law Sigal and third for our son Jonathan.
With the help of a doula (trained of course by the Israel Childbirth Education Centre), Sharon, Sigal stayed at home, walked on the beach and kept occupied from 8p.m. till midnight, then went to Rambam Hospital in Haifa at midnight - 7cm. dilatation.  With no medication, she progressed quickly and Michael at 3.200 k. was born at 3.15.  It is fortunate that the time in hospital was short because meconium in the amniotic fluid caused some concern and continuous monitering.  
Michael latched on instantly and in the 34 hours since his birth has been very alert and wakeful and eager to feed - and feed - and feed. What a difference when no medication is used during the birth!
 Sigal (and Jonathan) lost a night`s sleep and it took some time to get Sigal a  bed in the rooming-in section so by the  evening she was still ecstatic but very exhausted.
So we tried the positioning illustrated in Suzanne Colson`s work on biological nurting.  Sigal rested, semi-reclining with the baby draped over her abdomen and his head just at the level of her breast.  He fed beautifully and his body was so relaxed he dozed between sucking.  She would have slept well in this position too but after we left her for the night, she was afraid to do this because of the narrow hospital bed.
Hopefully tomorrow they will go home and relax together in the big double bed.
The only negative comment I heard about this position was that she did not feel so much the flow of the milk and in the middle of the night she was worried that his enormous demand had exceeded the supply of what was still colostrum.  Fortunately the night staff were very supportive and helped her express with her hand a few drops so that she was reassured that her breast was not empty.
Today, she really feels full and Michael is feeding for longer and dozing for longer so this morning Sigal actually managed to sleep for a couple of hours (even with the background of cleaners` buckets, telephones and busy ward noises)
And this is only the second day!  So you understand why grandma (as well as the parents) is euphoric!

Wendy Blumfield

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