Have you heard of the longest cranial nerve?

The Vagus nerve is the biggest nerve in the body, travelling through the brainstem, the neck, the thorax, and into the lower abdomen. It is a part of the parasympathetic nervous system that allows our body to rest and digest. Vagal tone basically refers to the'strength' of the vagus nerve. High vagal tone is considered a good thing, and low vagal tone may produce symptoms of colic, reflux, irritability, food reactions, and poor sleep. The biggest cause of low vagal tone is chronic'stress' which can occur in utero, at birth, or after. The vagus cranial nerve can also be affected during the birth process.

· When the baby is born, it is programmed to connect with mum.

· If the birth has been hard and/or mum is not there to connect, the baby’s body is flooded with cortisol, the stress hormone, and this moves the baby’s body into sympathetic nervous system (fight and flight) mode. They can’t fight or fly, so the separation intensifies, and the fear makes the baby agitated, with darting eye movements and/or urgent crying.

This is life-threatening, and the baby adapts by having the parasympathetic nervous system move the body into a freeze response. It plays possum, thinking that if I retreat and freeze, the danger may pass. The baby can often be quiet, and they can get stuck in that freeze state (good baby syndrome). Often, babies can become unable to maintain a normal range in their bodies, with the nervous system oscillating from high activation to disconnection and disassociation.