Finally, science is backing up, but also explaining, what loving and capable mothers have innately understood "since the beginning of time"; and that it is that the first and most important role of a mother is to make her new baby feel safe, secure, happy and treasured. In fact, the social and emotional development of a child depends on it.

And to think there are still so many people in this world who believe that having happy, well adjusted, children who learn easily is "only a matter of luck and genes".

In the following video Professor Allan Schore of UCLA points out, in easy-to-understand language, that "genes don't stop at birth".

This video is one that I wish everyone - whether a future parent, present parent, or non-parent - would watch because I believe that it's message has the potential of changing a lot of thinking, as well as contributing to a far better understanding of human development, some of those ever-famous nature/nurture questions, and the importance of positive interaction in the first months and years of a child's life.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0iocZu1mVg