Скачать или смотреть Imprinting, Latchment and Attachment

Minutes after birth, babies begin to orally fixate (imprint) on either the maternal nipple or a decoy (thumb, dummy, bottle teat etc). After fixation, the baby emotionally bonds to the imprinted object and this is known as the Latchment phase of emotional development#. During this phase, the baby recognises its mother exclusively through the nipple in the mouth.

After about six months the baby begins to visually recognise the mother, marking the commencement of Bowlby's Attachment phase of emotional development (emotional bond to visually recognised mother).

Good Latchment, an emotional bond to the maternal nipple, ensures that the baby receives nutritional and immunological input and hormonal releases as optimised by our evolutionary design. Good Latchment sets the foundation for good health and optimal transition to the Attachment phase.

Poor Latchment, an emotional bond to a decoy, deprives the baby of appropriate nutritional and immunological input and hormonal releases, increasing the risks of physiological and psychological impairment. Poor Latchment hinders transition to the Attachment phase of emotional development, increasing the risks of additional psychological pathologies.

Dr Tony Mobbs graduated in medicine in 1956 and trained in Sydney and London in obstetrics and gynaecology. Tony commenced specialist practice in the 1960s making him one of Australia's longest serving obstetricians. Tony found great satisfaction in supporting his wife, Dr Elsie Mobbs, in her academic research into imprinting in the 1980s and her later research into Latchment theory. Tony and Elsie are perhaps the only husband and wife team to have achieved IBCLC status.