Breathing with your Premature Baby

Breathe, Just Breathe
Think about something you enjoy. Then concentrate on taking all the air out of your lungs until they are empty. Breathe in deeply through your nose without making an effort. Then let the air out slowly. Always expel the air through your nose. Once you have found your own tranquil breathing method, put on a mask and do this next to your baby. Enjoy contact with your baby through the air. You can also say sweet things to your baby, such as things that are emotional for you, but do not force the situation. You should not care that other parents don’t do the same around you; your baby will be fascinated about breathing next to you. Some babies even like listening to their parents tell them things, for example what you were doing before you came to visit them. Obviously not because the baby is able to understand the concepts, but because they will be able to perceive the tones of voice you have and this relaxes them. Your voice, along with your heartbeat, was something your baby used to listen to when he or she was inside your womb; this includes the voice of the father as well.

We insist that it will be more beneficial for your baby to hear your voice rather than you sitting there, tense, sad, or anguished, even if you are smiling.

If you notice that it is difficult for you to interact with your child due to fear of making a fool of yourself, or embarrassment or any other type of inhibition, remember that this is because of the stereotype image you had during the pregnancy about how your relationship with your baby had to be, which is why we strongly suggest you focus all your attention on the baby. For example, watch the forma and position of your baby’s hands and feet, the expression on his or her face, then try to talk to the baby, and watch what happens, watch to see if something changes.

The first time a lot of people have talked to their baby, the babies were very unsettled and had an expression of discomfort that is difficult to describe. There are moments in which you cannot touch the baby at all, not even for a few seconds, and when the parents went up and talked to their baby, with a whisper, with a soft and serene voice, about everything they had been doing before coming to visit the baby, many babies react in stretching out their feet, try to open their eyes and then many times fall asleep. You may notice when doing this how the expression on the baby’s face will change and will seem more relaxed. This not only helps the baby, but also connects the mother and father to the baby and helps the mother to reconstruct her new identity as a mother.