Some years ago, I went to a conference (in London) about prenatal influences. Peter Hepper gave a talk about his research on prenatal influences, including babies recognition of sound heard before birth - particularly the "neighbours" theme tune :-)
However, he did speculate that part of the bonding process includes the fact that - in utero - the baby swallows amniotic fluid, and that the fluid is very similar in taste to breastmilk. Thus, when the baby first tastes breastmilk, he recognises the taste from his previous experience of swallowing amniotic fluid. The taste in amniotic (as with breastmilk) is influenced by the mothers diet, and it is therefore important that mothers do not change their diet significantly after birth as the baby will find it "difficult" to recognise the breastmilk as coming from his mother.
Obviously, it's not the only factor.
Debbie Slater
Perth, WA
- [ozmidwifery] Refusing the breast Child Birth Information Service
- DebSlater
