These tiny moments that make up a young child’s life truly nourish the soul of the parents who raised them. When I think about how deep my love is for my children, I can’t help but wonder how powerful our shared experiences are impacting them. I guess that is how I first found myself researching attachment parenting. I soon found out that, by instinct alone, I was already doing a lot of the eight principles of attachment parenting. This is not to say that attachment parenting is the best way or only way to parent, or that I personally exclusively abide by these eight principles. It just so happens that I do a lot of these things and they work for me.
As a new or expecting parent, you are probably considering adopting some of these principles yourself. Attachment parents keep their babies close, they tend to choose breastfeeding, bedsharing, babywearing, and other methods that enhance bonding between babies and their parents. If you are here looking into home birth midwifery care, then you are already practicing the first principle: preparing for pregnancy, labor, and birth. Dr. Sears refers to this as “birth bonding,” a process that is enhanced with a supportive provider by your side.
Parenthood is full of options and choices, starting at birth and continuing into childhood and beyond. Getting to know some of those options now is one of the many reasons parents choose to hire a midwife and plan an out-of-hospital birth. My clients often utilize my experience in the attachment parenting approach without even knowing. Whether I am helping with that first initial breastfeeding latch, reviewing birth choices to promote optimal bonding, or teaching a mother how to wrap a baby to her chest for the first time.. This parenting approach gives parents confidence and support in those first precious moments.
My experiences as a mother have transformed who I am as a woman. I have been a passionate advocate for attachment in birth and I carry this with me as I support each growing family. I recently wrote a guest blog for The Nurturing Root about my personal experiences babywearing and how this single choice has taught me so much about myself and our community. I was also interviewed in a local news story on the topic of attachment parenting, you can watch the video here. If you are interested in learning more about the attachment parenting approach, I have books on the subject available for clients in my lending library.
PHOTO CREDIT: HEARTLOVE PHOTOGRAPHY
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