A–Z Glossary

Autonomic nervous system

The autonomic nervous system helps regulate arousal and body functions such as heart rate, breathing, digestion, and stress responses.

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Does crying affect the baby myth

Does crying affect the baby myth

What the crying myth actually means When people ask whether crying affects the baby, they are usually asking a very specific question: if I get upset and cry, could that emotional moment hurt my pregnancy? The fear is understandable. Pregnancy often heightens attention to every physical and emotional change, and it is easy to imagine […]

How to stay calm and in control

How to stay calm and in control

Redefine what being in control means Many people imagine control during birth as staying quiet, avoiding fear, or ensuring that every event follows a preferred sequence. In reality, control is better understood as participation in decisions, access to understandable information, and the ability to communicate what you need. You may feel frightened, cry, vocalise, ask […]

Why Newborns Cry When Put Down

Why Newborns Cry When Put Down

Why being held feels safer to a newborn For a newborn, being held provides a dense combination of familiar signals: body warmth, rhythmic movement, pressure against the caregiver’s body, a recognizable voice, and the sound of breathing or a heartbeat. These cues can reduce arousal and help organize the infant’s autonomic nervous system. A crib, […]

Baby attention span explained

Baby attention span explained

What baby attention span really means In infancy, attention span is not the same as the adult ability to concentrate on a task for a sustained period. It is closer to a set of early neurodevelopmental skills: orienting toward a stimulus, maintaining alertness, filtering competing sensory input, shifting gaze when something new appears, and disengaging […]