How do I bond with my baby?

This is part of the process we call ‘bonding’ which starts going on in the first 72 hours of your baby’s life, and goes on for years.

Don’t see bonding as pressure to fall instantaneously and ecstatically in love with your baby at first sight. Mother love is partly hormonal, so it’s not your fault if you don’t feel it immediately.

Some mothers are shocked to find they lack maternal feelings when they first hold their babies. This can last from an hour to a week, but rarely much longer, and it’s due to a variety of factors. Fluctuating hormones, complications with the delivery, sheer exhaustion, maybe even a mother’s own experience in early childhood – these can all affect how you connect with your baby at first.