birth itself is hard work, for the baby as well as the parent. being squeezed out of your nice cosy, perfect environment through a narrow muscular tube and into a cold and unfamiliar place is upsetting. also air has just entered their lungs for the first time, this is a somewhat startling experience.
Crying helps expel the amniotic fluid from the lungs, so that the baby can start breathing air. Additionally, babies’ primary form of communication is crying: they cry when they’re hungry, when they’re bored, when they’re scared, when they’re hurt, and when they get forcibly ejected from their sweet studio apartment and shoved into the shitty world they have to share with us.
Well I mean, the baby is being squeezed out of a tiny hole that’s being stretched nearly beyond its limit. Crying also helps get the fluid out of their lungs from being in the womb
A newborn has basically never experienced anything except the warm, comfy, quiet womb. Then, all of a sudden, they get rudely pushed (or pulled) out of there. They have to cough up some gunk and start breathing, it’s cold and bright, there are people handling them and talking; that has to be unpleasant! And since they’re experiencing everything for the first time, any unpleasantness is the worst thing ever, and they can’t even talk yet! You would scream, too. In fact, you most likely did!
Crying does a lot. It clears the lungs but also expands them to start gas exchange. The pressure inside the lungs drops which increases the heart’s ability to pump blood through them. The heart (right ventricle) isn’t strong enough to pump against high resistance. The lungs need to have low resistance to avoid the heart from failing. The changes in pressures inside the heart also closes off the two top chambers (fetuses have an opening between the two top chambers, foramen ovale). That needs to close to avoid mixing of oxygen poor blood with oxygen rich blood.
Also, crying stimulates the mother to produce milk. There is a brain circuit (milk-ejection reflex) that responds to oxytocin. Oxytocin, the “love hormone”, is important to get milk release going. It’s also important for bonding.
Before it’s born, a baby has two structures, the foramen ovale and ductus arteriosus, that bypass parts of the heart and the lungs because it’s getting support from the mother. As soon as the baby is born and takes its first breath, both structures immediately close which has to be incredibly uncomfortable. Leading to crying.
The ductos anteriosus is pretty much done immediately after the first breath. The foramen ovale closes by may take a few months after birth to permanently seal.
Mostly because getting squeezed through the birth canal is highly unpleasant, but it’s important that they cry because it kickstarts their breathing reflex. A baby that isn’t crying probably isn’t breathing, and that needs immediate attention from the doctor.
Our lungs contain small balloon-like structures called alveoli that are responsible for gas (carbon dioxide and oxygen) exchange for normal respiration. While inside the womb, we do not need these alveoli to ‘breathe in’ oxygen and ‘breathe out’ carbon dioxide. Instead, we have umbilical cord connected to our mothers. The mother does the breathing for us instead. As fetus, the alveoli are still collapsed and the pressure inside the lungs is higher than the right side of the heart. So there’s practically no blood and gas flow to the lungs. But as soon as we’re born, the differences in pressure inside the lungs vs environment shifts. The outside environment has higher pressure than the alveoli. Air tends to move from high pressure to low pressure area so naturally air from outside will flow to our lungs. However, the alveoli do not automatically inflate. The baby cries as a reflex to overcome the collapsing nature of the alveoli in order for it to inflate. But this will only be successful if the baby has enough amount of surfactant in its lungs. If the baby’s born prematurely (<34 weeks), no matter how hard it cries, its alveoli will remain collapsed and cannot facilitate gas exchange, even if the atmospheric pressure is greater than inside the lungs and even if the baby’s already in hypoxic state. In this case, the baby needs breathing assistance from a machine and must be administered with artificial surfactant
I just wanted to add a little thing to this incase there is someone who doesn’t know.
Not every healthy baby cries at birth. It is far more common that they give at least a bit of a cry, but some don’t do any screaming. They just start breathing. Many of those will do some quick movements or arms and legs in a “what the hell just happened” way (it’s probably not that reason but it seems that way).
Crying is helpful to shift lung fluid, but not essential. Breathing is what shifts the fluid, and big breaths are the most helpful. Those big breaths are usually accompanied by crying, but not always.
Source: me! I’m a paediatrician with a lot of neonatal experience. I’ve been to many, many deliveries.
We don’t attend every delivery, just ones where there are signs that there’s at least a slightly increased chance of problems for baby to not do the transition to being outside the womb as smoothly as they should. And because it covers a lot of babies that only have a bit of an increased, most of them come out and do the normal thing; I don’t even need to touch’s see baby and leave. Sometimes, when they are quiet immediately after birth, I’ll get them brought to me. First thing you do is quickly dry them, and that can be enough to stimulate them to breathe, and with that some then just start breathing, open their eyes and start moving. Everything looks good and baby goes back to mum and I leave.
From the number of times I’ve said the word “some” you can see that it’s not a standard thing to not at least give a bit of a call out at birth, but it’s necessarily a problem
You ever see videos of deaf people hearing for the first time? Always tears. Now imagine all senses being switched on at the same time without warning.
I have four children. Our very first did not cry at all, but still looked rather annoyed when receiving the attention from so many medical professionals afterward. I’d post a video, but she would kill me if I put that out into the world.
They’re often made to cry in order to check the functioning / breathing.
My daughter was a water birth… slipped right out (my ex-wife might have a different opinion), into the water, scooped up, wrapped up, started breathing.
They literally had to rough her up with the towel she was wrapped in to get her to make a sound. She went “wah” in the quietest way imaginable… then went back to sleep for hours. That little tiny wah was enough for the NURSE to be happy, my daughter didn’t care at all, she just wanted to stay warm and cosy and sleepy.
I’m not hippy-dippy but I always thought it was a lovely way to enter the world, where the most disturbing thing she experienced being born was someone basically going “Hey, just let me know you’re alive. Okay, that’ll do.”
(Also: Newborns eyes aren’t connected or coordinated, so they literally swirl independently, which is the weirdest thing you’ll ever see in your life).
I was grateful to hear my newborn daughter cry when she was born. The meconium had become thick like gelatin and I was afraid she would aspirate or have compromised breathing when she was born. So when I heard her cries I was relieved and tended to my wife who was damn near close to needing a blood transfusion. There are so many complicated mechanisms involved in child birth, they would reposition my wife to get my daughter shift position and anytime she was on all fours, her heart rate would drop and my wife’s contractions would wane.
Imagine you are swimming in a nice warm pool with no worries. The pool starts to drain and you are squeezed through a chute. Coming out you can barely see with bright lights and giant figures moving you around. There are all kinds of new and surprising sounds and sights. This is a good time to cry.
I mean wouldn’t you if all of your existence has been in a warm bath where all your food is provided and you don’t even need to breathe
Then suddenly you’re pushed head first through the plug and get exposed to a bright cold room. Also you suddenly need to breathe but your lungs are full of fluid
The first cry is super super super important for a lot of different reasons. It clears the lungs, closes a lot of vessels that were present during uterine life for example the fossa ovalis, etc.
It’s the ultimate system reboot, switching them from life support to independent operation while simultaneously filing their first complaint about the outside world.
Thinking about it from the baby’s point if view as a pediatric RN- The baby get squished through the birth canal or pulled out in a c section. They are wet, it feels cold compared to inside mom’s body, and it’s very bright. It is possibly also loud. It’s probably very unsettling.
When we were kids, my brother told mom one day that he remembered being in a really warm, reddish space. Then all the sudden he got really cold, and everything got super bright and noisy.
Mom was baffled. Brother didn’t know what it was but mom figured it out.
It‘s not a reflex, it’s part of their character. The reflex is, when coming out, the compressed lung gets decompressed. So that’s the first breath in. Then there’s a normal couch reflex (the same when we’re adults) , so many baby’s also cough a few times. The crying ist the normal reaction on: pain, fear, excitement. Everything normal after birth. Adults can block crying much better, otherwise many mums would cry as well, and some of them also do.
When baby’s have pain e.g. when taking a blood sample – they cry the same way.
Gynaecologist/Obstetrician here.
Sorry for my bad english
It‘s not a reflex, it’s part of their character. The reflex is, when coming out, the compressed lung gets decompressed. So that’s the first breath in. Then there’s a normal couch reflex (the same when we’re adults) , so many baby’s also cough a few times. The crying ist the normal reaction on: pain, fear, excitement. Everything normal after birth. Adults can block crying much better, otherwise many mums would cry as well, and some of them also do.
When baby’s have pain e.g. when taking a blood sample – they cry the same way.
Gynaecologist/Obstetrician here.
Sorry for my bad english
Being pushed through a meat tunnel into a bright light that burns the retinas with air that burns to breath is traumatic yo, also all the amniotic fluid in the lungs kinda complicates staying calm
I mean… there’s why it’s important that they cry, and why they cry.
It seems that others have already outlined why it’s important.
As to why they cry… I mean, they’re cold for the first time ever. They’ve just had their head squeezed through the birth canal. That same canal has squeezed your chest so much that it’s pushed most of the amniotic fluid out of them, and you’ve breathed in air for the first time… cold air.
It’s bright as hell, and your eyes have never taken in light before. The sounds that were all muffled and barely heard are now starting to seep into your ears as they drip amniotic fluid.
None of this makes any f*cking sense to you, so at the very least, you try to yell, “What the hell?!?” but a cry is all you can manage, since your brain can’t coordinate your mouth enough for language yet.
All their life they’ve been in a warm, comfortable environment and suddenly they’re pushed out through a small hole, squishing their skull out into open air ans having to breathe oxygen for the first time. They have zero experience with ANYTHING.
Birth is painful for mother and baby. Most babies come out with bruised faces from the pressure and deformed skulls that have to go back to a normal shape after. In addition to being cold for the first time ever (their hands turn purple) everything is sensory overload for them.
I delivered my second in a birthing pool, so from warm inside mom to warm water. Didn’t cry when pulled up out of the water just looked around. Only cried when nicked on the side while cord being cut.
being a baby is pretty traumatic. I mean you’ve just been ejected from a fancy home that feeds you and keeps you warm and safe and then your body is just like expanding and shit. Have you ever tried to grow your bones? that shit hurts!
Well imagine, one day you’re just swimming around with 400 million of your pals then soon after you’re paying taxes and watching the free world collapse. I’d be crying too.
Well, if YOU were shoved through a tunnel the size of your mom’s boyfriend’s weiner, out from a nice, dark, warm, liquid filled cave into the great wide open, that is cold, bright, teeming with weirdos in scrubs, and then spanked…. Wouldn’t YOU cry?
Not all babies cry at birth. In the old days, if the baby didn’t cry they would slap its bottom to make it cry, presumably for clearing the airways and checking everything is functioning.
Comments
birth itself is hard work, for the baby as well as the parent. being squeezed out of your nice cosy, perfect environment through a narrow muscular tube and into a cold and unfamiliar place is upsetting. also air has just entered their lungs for the first time, this is a somewhat startling experience.
Everything is new and you can’t express yourself.
Crying helps expel the amniotic fluid from the lungs, so that the baby can start breathing air. Additionally, babies’ primary form of communication is crying: they cry when they’re hungry, when they’re bored, when they’re scared, when they’re hurt, and when they get forcibly ejected from their sweet studio apartment and shoved into the shitty world they have to share with us.
They turned into a big baby for the first time. Honestly
Well I mean, the baby is being squeezed out of a tiny hole that’s being stretched nearly beyond its limit. Crying also helps get the fluid out of their lungs from being in the womb
A newborn has basically never experienced anything except the warm, comfy, quiet womb. Then, all of a sudden, they get rudely pushed (or pulled) out of there. They have to cough up some gunk and start breathing, it’s cold and bright, there are people handling them and talking; that has to be unpleasant! And since they’re experiencing everything for the first time, any unpleasantness is the worst thing ever, and they can’t even talk yet! You would scream, too. In fact, you most likely did!
A. The crying reflex acts to clear fluid from the lungs and initiate the breathing reflex.
B. It’s loud, bright, cold, and they’ve just been squeezed through a tube. You’d cry, too (I mean, you probably did).
Crying does a lot. It clears the lungs but also expands them to start gas exchange. The pressure inside the lungs drops which increases the heart’s ability to pump blood through them. The heart (right ventricle) isn’t strong enough to pump against high resistance. The lungs need to have low resistance to avoid the heart from failing. The changes in pressures inside the heart also closes off the two top chambers (fetuses have an opening between the two top chambers, foramen ovale). That needs to close to avoid mixing of oxygen poor blood with oxygen rich blood.
Also, crying stimulates the mother to produce milk. There is a brain circuit (milk-ejection reflex) that responds to oxytocin. Oxytocin, the “love hormone”, is important to get milk release going. It’s also important for bonding.
Crying does a lot.
Can you imagine how freaky it would be if the infant was born laughing hysterically?
Before it’s born, a baby has two structures, the foramen ovale and ductus arteriosus, that bypass parts of the heart and the lungs because it’s getting support from the mother. As soon as the baby is born and takes its first breath, both structures immediately close which has to be incredibly uncomfortable. Leading to crying.
The ductos anteriosus is pretty much done immediately after the first breath. The foramen ovale closes by may take a few months after birth to permanently seal.
Mostly because getting squeezed through the birth canal is highly unpleasant, but it’s important that they cry because it kickstarts their breathing reflex. A baby that isn’t crying probably isn’t breathing, and that needs immediate attention from the doctor.
Being Born is literally the worst thing the Baby has ever been through in his entire lifetime.
It’s normal to cry when this happens.
Because they haven’t learned how to curse yet!
Suffering that will last a lifetime has begun and they realize it
Our lungs contain small balloon-like structures called alveoli that are responsible for gas (carbon dioxide and oxygen) exchange for normal respiration. While inside the womb, we do not need these alveoli to ‘breathe in’ oxygen and ‘breathe out’ carbon dioxide. Instead, we have umbilical cord connected to our mothers. The mother does the breathing for us instead. As fetus, the alveoli are still collapsed and the pressure inside the lungs is higher than the right side of the heart. So there’s practically no blood and gas flow to the lungs. But as soon as we’re born, the differences in pressure inside the lungs vs environment shifts. The outside environment has higher pressure than the alveoli. Air tends to move from high pressure to low pressure area so naturally air from outside will flow to our lungs. However, the alveoli do not automatically inflate. The baby cries as a reflex to overcome the collapsing nature of the alveoli in order for it to inflate. But this will only be successful if the baby has enough amount of surfactant in its lungs. If the baby’s born prematurely (<34 weeks), no matter how hard it cries, its alveoli will remain collapsed and cannot facilitate gas exchange, even if the atmospheric pressure is greater than inside the lungs and even if the baby’s already in hypoxic state. In this case, the baby needs breathing assistance from a machine and must be administered with artificial surfactant
I just wanted to add a little thing to this incase there is someone who doesn’t know.
Not every healthy baby cries at birth. It is far more common that they give at least a bit of a cry, but some don’t do any screaming. They just start breathing. Many of those will do some quick movements or arms and legs in a “what the hell just happened” way (it’s probably not that reason but it seems that way).
Crying is helpful to shift lung fluid, but not essential. Breathing is what shifts the fluid, and big breaths are the most helpful. Those big breaths are usually accompanied by crying, but not always.
Source: me! I’m a paediatrician with a lot of neonatal experience. I’ve been to many, many deliveries.
We don’t attend every delivery, just ones where there are signs that there’s at least a slightly increased chance of problems for baby to not do the transition to being outside the womb as smoothly as they should. And because it covers a lot of babies that only have a bit of an increased, most of them come out and do the normal thing; I don’t even need to touch’s see baby and leave. Sometimes, when they are quiet immediately after birth, I’ll get them brought to me. First thing you do is quickly dry them, and that can be enough to stimulate them to breathe, and with that some then just start breathing, open their eyes and start moving. Everything looks good and baby goes back to mum and I leave.
From the number of times I’ve said the word “some” you can see that it’s not a standard thing to not at least give a bit of a call out at birth, but it’s necessarily a problem
Sorry that was a bit rambling
You ever see videos of deaf people hearing for the first time? Always tears. Now imagine all senses being switched on at the same time without warning.
I mean gestures broadly at everything can you blame them?
I have four children. Our very first did not cry at all, but still looked rather annoyed when receiving the attention from so many medical professionals afterward. I’d post a video, but she would kill me if I put that out into the world.
Notallbabies.jpg
It was common to slap them to force them to cry, so they would “oxygenate” their bloodstream etc.
This has thankfully changed for the better, and now the medics just check that the newborn breathes properly and leaves it with the mother asap.
In my experience, only about 50% of newborns do cry spontaneously.
They often don’t.
They’re often made to cry in order to check the functioning / breathing.
My daughter was a water birth… slipped right out (my ex-wife might have a different opinion), into the water, scooped up, wrapped up, started breathing.
They literally had to rough her up with the towel she was wrapped in to get her to make a sound. She went “wah” in the quietest way imaginable… then went back to sleep for hours. That little tiny wah was enough for the NURSE to be happy, my daughter didn’t care at all, she just wanted to stay warm and cosy and sleepy.
I’m not hippy-dippy but I always thought it was a lovely way to enter the world, where the most disturbing thing she experienced being born was someone basically going “Hey, just let me know you’re alive. Okay, that’ll do.”
(Also: Newborns eyes aren’t connected or coordinated, so they literally swirl independently, which is the weirdest thing you’ll ever see in your life).
Clears their lungs, and it’s cold out and bright. Probably hangry as they feed not long after…. And poop
I was grateful to hear my newborn daughter cry when she was born. The meconium had become thick like gelatin and I was afraid she would aspirate or have compromised breathing when she was born. So when I heard her cries I was relieved and tended to my wife who was damn near close to needing a blood transfusion. There are so many complicated mechanisms involved in child birth, they would reposition my wife to get my daughter shift position and anytime she was on all fours, her heart rate would drop and my wife’s contractions would wane.
Realizing they will have a life of work, taxes and dissapointment is hard.
Because it’s the worst thing that ever happened in their lives. They’re cold, and it’s bright and loud, and where is their home/mom?
Imagine you are swimming in a nice warm pool with no worries. The pool starts to drain and you are squeezed through a chute. Coming out you can barely see with bright lights and giant figures moving you around. There are all kinds of new and surprising sounds and sights. This is a good time to cry.
Because life sucks. 😅😂🤣😭
It’s all downhill from there.
I mean wouldn’t you if all of your existence has been in a warm bath where all your food is provided and you don’t even need to breathe
Then suddenly you’re pushed head first through the plug and get exposed to a bright cold room. Also you suddenly need to breathe but your lungs are full of fluid
The first cry is super super super important for a lot of different reasons. It clears the lungs, closes a lot of vessels that were present during uterine life for example the fossa ovalis, etc.
My daughter didn’t cry until about 1,5 hour after being yanked out of there with a plunger
It’s the ultimate system reboot, switching them from life support to independent operation while simultaneously filing their first complaint about the outside world.
Thinking about it from the baby’s point if view as a pediatric RN- The baby get squished through the birth canal or pulled out in a c section. They are wet, it feels cold compared to inside mom’s body, and it’s very bright. It is possibly also loud. It’s probably very unsettling.
When we were kids, my brother told mom one day that he remembered being in a really warm, reddish space. Then all the sudden he got really cold, and everything got super bright and noisy.
Mom was baffled. Brother didn’t know what it was but mom figured it out.
He remembered being in her womb.
It‘s not a reflex, it’s part of their character. The reflex is, when coming out, the compressed lung gets decompressed. So that’s the first breath in. Then there’s a normal couch reflex (the same when we’re adults) , so many baby’s also cough a few times. The crying ist the normal reaction on: pain, fear, excitement. Everything normal after birth. Adults can block crying much better, otherwise many mums would cry as well, and some of them also do.
When baby’s have pain e.g. when taking a blood sample – they cry the same way.
Gynaecologist/Obstetrician here.
Sorry for my bad english
It‘s not a reflex, it’s part of their character. The reflex is, when coming out, the compressed lung gets decompressed. So that’s the first breath in. Then there’s a normal couch reflex (the same when we’re adults) , so many baby’s also cough a few times. The crying ist the normal reaction on: pain, fear, excitement. Everything normal after birth. Adults can block crying much better, otherwise many mums would cry as well, and some of them also do.
When baby’s have pain e.g. when taking a blood sample – they cry the same way.
Gynaecologist/Obstetrician here.
Sorry for my bad english
It’s cold and bright. And their entire existence has been this warm, cozy, aquatic place that they are suddenly ripped from.
They are cold. Imagine going from 98.6 to 70ish degrees.
(Gestures wildly around at everything). Wouldn’t you?
I heard that being born is the biggest trauma of the entire life. In that case it makes sense to cry
Being pushed through a meat tunnel into a bright light that burns the retinas with air that burns to breath is traumatic yo, also all the amniotic fluid in the lungs kinda complicates staying calm
Crying helps expel the amniotic fluid in the lungs of a newborn and also lets the doctors know that the baby is well and alive.
I’d cry if I was forcefully evicted from my lovely warm home that is the only place I’ve ever known for 9 months and has a constant supply of food
I mean… there’s why it’s important that they cry, and why they cry.
It seems that others have already outlined why it’s important.
As to why they cry… I mean, they’re cold for the first time ever. They’ve just had their head squeezed through the birth canal. That same canal has squeezed your chest so much that it’s pushed most of the amniotic fluid out of them, and you’ve breathed in air for the first time… cold air.
It’s bright as hell, and your eyes have never taken in light before. The sounds that were all muffled and barely heard are now starting to seep into your ears as they drip amniotic fluid.
None of this makes any f*cking sense to you, so at the very least, you try to yell, “What the hell?!?” but a cry is all you can manage, since your brain can’t coordinate your mouth enough for language yet.
So yeah. I’d say that’s why.
All their life they’ve been in a warm, comfortable environment and suddenly they’re pushed out through a small hole, squishing their skull out into open air ans having to breathe oxygen for the first time. They have zero experience with ANYTHING.
It’s scarey shit.
Because soon they have to pay taxes for a while and then they die
Because when they are born, they are held by their feet upside down and smacked on their bottom. That would make anyone cry. Duh.
Birth is painful for mother and baby. Most babies come out with bruised faces from the pressure and deformed skulls that have to go back to a normal shape after. In addition to being cold for the first time ever (their hands turn purple) everything is sensory overload for them.
It was dark, warm, and comfy. Now it is cold and bright.
If i got to spend 9 months inside a vagina I’d be pretty sad about getting kicked out too
They’re immediately regretting their life choices to be born at all. LOL
I delivered my second in a birthing pool, so from warm inside mom to warm water. Didn’t cry when pulled up out of the water just looked around. Only cried when nicked on the side while cord being cut.
They go from being warm and comfortable floating in bliss to being brought into a loud cold and bright af room. I’d cry too.
Pretty sure an adult would cry too if it was just born.
I mean you just got conjured out if nothing and cane into being? Fucking frightening.
being a baby is pretty traumatic. I mean you’ve just been ejected from a fancy home that feeds you and keeps you warm and safe and then your body is just like expanding and shit. Have you ever tried to grow your bones? that shit hurts!
Lots of reasons.
Firstly, it’s a horrifyingly scary experience.
Second, it helps clear the lungs
Third it triggers the maternal instinct to gather it up and hold it. Also it triggers lactation.
Well imagine, one day you’re just swimming around with 400 million of your pals then soon after you’re paying taxes and watching the free world collapse. I’d be crying too.
Cold, strange place they’ve been thrust upon! I still cry
I didn’t. Don’t know what your all’s problem is.
That moment is the worst pain the baby has ever experienced in its entire life
It helps transition to extra uterine life, but it’s also the only word they know.
Well, if YOU were shoved through a tunnel the size of your mom’s boyfriend’s weiner, out from a nice, dark, warm, liquid filled cave into the great wide open, that is cold, bright, teeming with weirdos in scrubs, and then spanked…. Wouldn’t YOU cry?
Someone pointed out to me once that babies cry because sometimes that’s literally the most uncomfortable they’ve ever been in their whole life.
Not all babies cry at birth. In the old days, if the baby didn’t cry they would slap its bottom to make it cry, presumably for clearing the airways and checking everything is functioning.