Once upon a time there was a time when you didn't have to go to information meetings to learn about the practice of babywearing. It was all natural, passed down from mother to daughter, woman to woman. A piece of cloth that was not too big was enough to be able to carry your child with you, it was so simple it was so normal, that no one paid attention to those children sleeping on their mothers' backs.
And yet for us now it is a new way of looking after children, a bit strange according to some people, as if prams and pushchairs had always existed in human life.
Despite this, the testimonies (and there are many) of children brought by their mothers resurface from history. How beautiful is Giotto's fresco, the Flight into Egypt, where Mary is represented sitting on a donkey carrying her child thanks to a fabric knotted around her neck? And some moments of life made immortal by old photos. And still many cultures wear by tradition.
Then how is it possible that all this has been forgotten?
To the point of making babywearing a new world, still unknown to many? Consumerism, with the advent of maternal surrogates (prams, strollers, bouncers, etc.), the isolation of mothers burdened with too many responsibilities has allowed this.
But instinct and nature sooner or later come back to the surface! Stronger, more beautiful than ever! Like a lioness fighting for her cubs every mother's instinct comes out roaring! Screaming of an indisputable force inside! A fire never extinguished, a resurrected instinct that rebels against prejudices and fights against ignorance. Because contact with one's children is something purely natural that can never be replaced and will never be suffocated. There is nothing more beautiful and right than creating a good bond with your children in order to ensure their own emotional security in them. Because one day those children will be parents and will be our mirror. We have to set the right example and we can do it. We can change, break this invisible but poisonous chain that has forced us to create a wall with our children to "not let them get addicted".
Can it be a vice to ask for contact with one's parent? No it is not. It is an essential human need and cannot go unheard.
Dott.ssa Katia Current professional nurse, babywearing consultant
The Sweet Embrace - Works in the Reggio Calabria area
