Dr Sarah Warley

But either way, doing something to take yourself out of that situation.

And just to have that moment of calm until what is a physiological reaction starts to calm down.

But it's really hard, isn't it, when you're in that moment?

Oh, yeah.

Most people in the world have probably never heard of it.

Unless you're a midwife or a doctor, then you will have heard of it, okay.

So the Morrow reflex, after Dr. Moreau, an American doctor...

It's a little baby survival reflex, okay?

So anyone that's a mother or a dad will have seen this.

And if there is any change to a newborn's environment, any sudden shock, so it could be a loud noise, it could be a bright light, it could be a sudden change of position, what they do is they throw out their arms and legs and they inhale and they go, and then you think, are they ever going to breathe again?

Because then they hold their breath for what feels like an eternity and then they cry and they cling on.

So it's a little survival reflex, because again, if you think evolutionarily,

You've given birth as a newborn in the environment.

You've gone off to forage for some food.

Any change to that baby's environment, it gets a kickstart to its system.

It gets a ton of adrenaline and cortisol flooding the system.

It gets a load of oxygen, an alarm cry to the parent, and then it clings on.

So you can see it's very useful.

And there's a lot of theory about it being the reason or one of the reasons a baby takes their first breath, etc.

And doctors can be stimulating it if a baby's not breathing to get that happening.