Do You Know What Happens Immediately After My Baby Is Born

Do You Know What Happens Immediately After My Baby Is Born

You might have been thinking a lot about how your baby is going to be born, whether you have a ᴄᴀᴇsᴀʀᴇᴀɴ ᴏʀ ᴠᴀɢɪɴᴀʟ birth, but what

happens afterwards. Here we explain all things happen immediately after your little one is born.
 After birth, the umbilical cord, which acted as the baby’s lifeline during pregnancy, will be ᴄʟᴀᴍᴘᴇᴅ ᴀɴᴅ ᴄᴜᴛ. The optimum time for cord clamping is three minutes. The midwife will guide you how to care for the cord stump before you leave the hospital.

Your baby will be given an identity wrist and ankle band, detailing the date and time of the birth; the hospital number; the ʙᴀʙʏ’s sᴇx; and the mother’s name. All the details will be crosschecked with you. The baby will also get an alarm-based security tag, which is computerised to match their specific hospital number. This is placed on your baby’s leg along with their identity bracelet.

Baby Check

After that your baby will be placed sᴋɪɴ-ᴛᴏ-sᴋɪɴ.  Sᴋɪɴ-ᴛᴏ-sᴋɪɴ contact also helps to promote bonding, and encourages normal infant breathing and heart rate patterns. After you have had some time to have sᴋɪɴ-ᴛᴏ-sᴋɪɴ contact with your baby, which is the start of the bonding process,  they will be weighed, and given a basic examination by the midwife. As sᴋɪɴ-ᴛᴏ-sᴋɪɴ contact is encouraged for the first 60 minutes of a newborn’s life, the first feed (breast of bottle) is also encouraged during this time.  However, while some babies need an early feed and can latch on really well, others may be too sleepy to be interested in feeding. Your midwife will help you assess the situation

This will check all body parts of baby’s body  from fingers, toes, the fontanelles .  Also, baby’s hands and feet can be slightly pale for up to 24 hours. Again this is normal, the circulation improves in a few days.

Medical Tᴇsᴛs

The APGAR test will also be carried out on your baby. This is a way of checking the baby’s condition and is done one minute after birth and again five minutes after birth. Heart ʀᴀᴛᴇ, ʙʀᴇᴀᴛʜɪɴɢ, ᴍᴜsᴄʟᴇ ᴛᴏɴᴇ, ʀᴇFʟᴇxᴇs, ᴀɴᴅ sᴋɪɴ ᴄᴏʟᴏᴜʀ ᴀʀᴇ ᴀʟʟ ᴀssᴇssᴇᴅ. A healthy baby will have a score of seven or higher. A baby with a lower score may need time to recover from the birth.

Mother’s HealthThe midwife will also review your ᴄᴏɴᴅɪᴛɪᴏɴ. Yᴏᴜʀ ᴠᴀɢɪɴᴀ ᴀɴᴅ ᴠᴜʟᴠᴀ ᴡɪʟʟ ʙᴇ ᴄʜᴇᴄᴋᴇᴅ Fᴏʀ ᴛᴇᴀʀs ᴀɴᴅ sᴜᴛᴜʀᴇᴅ ᴀFᴛᴇʀ ᴅᴇʟɪᴠᴇʀʏ ᴏF ᴛʜᴇ ᴘʟᴀᴄᴇɴᴛᴀ. The midwife will also check that your ʙʟᴏᴏᴅ ʟᴏss is not too heavy, and that any problems such as a rise in your ʙʟᴏᴏᴅ ᴘʀᴇssᴜʀᴇ, ᴀʀᴇ ǫᴜɪᴄᴋʟʏ ɪᴅᴇɴᴛɪFɪᴇᴅ.

Look After Yourself
Rest when you can and aim to rest/ sleep when your baby is asleep. Ensure you drink plenty of water and your diet is high in fibre (such as bran, oranges and brown bread) to ᴘʀᴇᴠᴇɴᴛ ᴄᴏɴsᴛɪᴘᴀᴛɪᴏɴ.