Bonding


Only a woman who has just delivered a baby can fully relate to what Eve felt when she gave birth to her first son.[1]  Never before had a human being created a new life. It was an overwhelming experience for Eve. In the first hours after the birth, she experienced elation and deep gratitude that she had been allowed to bring this little baby into the world. An intimate bond developed between mother and child, so that everything else around her faded away.

In the first two hours after birth, mother and child enjoy their togetherness and this first feeling of connection is an incredible experience. For months the mother has been waiting for her baby to arrive and now, after the birth, she needs time to get to know her child at leisure. They need to cuddle and the baby enjoys the warmth in the mother’s arms. Having been connected to the mother through the umbilical cord that is now severed, the baby needs a new form of bonding through closeness, warmth, and skin contact for healthy development. In these moments, something unique happens that goes far beyond the joy of having your own child and the relief that he or she is healthy and the birth is over. This bonding is also considered in psychology to be a prerequisite for a person to grow up with physical as well as emotional well-being.

We now know that both the mother and the baby are flooded with endogenous hormones that promote bonding after delivery. At this time they are in an emotional state in which the outside has no place. They concentrate on each other and the baby picks up the familiar sounds of the mother’s body, becoming calm. The sucking reflex is greatest for the first two hours after birth and the baby looks for the mother’s breast.

When I think of my own experiences with my babies, I can only confirm that these scientific findings are indeed true. This intimate togetherness is indescribable and so wonderful. A father who witnesses the birth can also be emotionally involved, but never fully comprehend what it is like for a woman to give life to a new being.

When God created human beings, male and female, at the end of the creation week, it was admittedly a little different than when a new baby is born. God looked at everything He had created and it was very good. He had formed them with His own hands on the sixth day in the wonderful garden and breathed into them the breath of life. They woke up in this paradise, and experienced not only togetherness, but also bonding with God - with their Father, the Creator, and the Spirit - who rejoiced over His children. God wanted to establish this bond with His children, and He not only needed two hours of bonding but He devoted a special day for it - the seventh day of Creation Week, the Sabbath. I can imagine him embracing them and taking them by the hand, introducing them to the wonders of nature that he had prepared for them. This day with his children was to be very special.  A day of communion between God and his children, not only back then in the garden, but for all time.[2] It is a gift from God to us humans, and He knows that we need it so much, especially in our so stressful world. The Sabbath is a sign of this special bond between God and man.

 



[1] Genesis 4:1NIV  ”Adam made love to his wife Eve, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain. She said, ‘With the help of the Lord I have brought forth a man.’

[2] Genesis 2:3 NIV “ Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.”

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