I did the breast crawl and I would disagree that you miss out on the first snuggles.
I placed Oliver on my chest and held him in my arms whilst my Hubby stroked his hair. I gazed into his eyes for what felt like an eternity and he gazed back. It took about half an hour for him wiggle up and to attach. They don't have to be left there with no contact, in fact it is the opposite. It is a truely beautiful experience. I have some photos and my doula took some video and the snuggly feelings are tangible.
I would have felt rushed if a middy had shoved my nipple in his mouth. It was the most beautiful, calming experience. It gives you and bub a chance to exhale and relax a bit after the birth. I would definately do it again and highly recommend it if circumstances permit.
ETA: I held him for 2 hours in total before anyone else, even his daddy got a cuddle. He wasn't weighed and measured until about 2 1/2 hours after birth. I found this bonding time so very important.
I had a c-sect for DS, and did manage to get in a feed with him about an hour after the birth, but we were both tired and, while we did get a good feed in, we had some issues with attachment, and I was not in a place to figure it out.
So we did a late breast crawl, on day three after seeing a good LC at the hopsital. She suggested that we both nude up and have skin to skin when DS was looking for food, and he bobbed his little head round and rounds and found the BB and latched on properly for the first time, and we didnt have a problem with feeding ever again.
DS was handled by many people before me, and I think we missed that first moment together, so the breast crawl was a great bonding for the both of us too.
So, I am a total advocate for the breast crawl, in its many forms.
I would love to do the breast crawl if there is a next time because to me it makes sense at least for the first breastfeed to allow the baby to follow their instincts. I felt under a lot of pressure (from myself and my own reading) to attempt to breastfeed within 30 minutes. I felt I HAD to do it otherwise I was dooming our BF journey to disaster.
But TBH, I really didn't want to do skin on skin immediately. I'd had a very long labour with very little sleep (7 hours in 3 days followed by 3 hours of pushing and a forceps birth) and, I know this is a bit taboo, but I just wanted to be on my own and sleep.
I really felt under pressure to have skin on skin and to attempt breastfeeding when I felt that the time wasn't right. Maybe I just didn't want the skin on skin because I thought that I would then be pressured to attempt a breastfeed. Dunno ... but yep, next time I think the breastcrawl in baby's own time (and mum's own time) is the way to go.
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