You & Your Baby After Birth

In the first hours after your baby is born, skin to skin contact, and keeping the mother with the baby at all times is something hospitals, and parents should be practicing everywhere. Unfortunately it is not as common as it should be, especially in U.S. hospitals.

I have been using a lot of the Mothers Advocate videos lately, and I wanted to share another on this healthy birth practice which fits into the 6 healthy birth practices of Lamaze. I think a blog post with a short video, or picture is always more appealing to readers, right? Haha!

But why is it so important that we keep our babies with us and have skin to skin contact with our newborns in the first hours after birth? In the first hours and moments after a baby is born, they are going through an amazing transition into a whole new world. From the safety and space of your womb to a big new world with bright lights, noises, and new people.

Some of the new activities your babies is learning is how to breathe air, suck, swallow, and regulate their own temperature outside of the womb. Doesn’t sound like it is a lot for them to do, but it is. As mothers we should want to make this transition for our babies as easy as possible.

So what are the benefits of having skin to skin contact after a baby is born?

Babies who have the skin to skin contact cry less
Have more stable temperatures
Have more stable blood sugars (which the lack of skin to skin contact with my second son, because of my cesarean made a change in his blood sugar which resulted in a 30 hour NICU stay.
These babies breastfeed sooner, longer, and much more easily.
The babies are being exposed to normal bacterias on the mother, which can protect them from getting sick from unhealthy, or other types of bacteria, especially if birthing in a hospital.
And they have lower levels of stress hormones.

These are all big plus’s for mothers right?

But what about my sleep? Why can’t I just send the baby to the nursery for the night and rest up till I get home, then I can do this whole skin to skin thing right?

Wrong! Studies show that mothers who give birth in a hospital and have their babies room in, get just as much sleep as those mothers who are sending their babies off to the nursery for the night. These same studies have shown the babies who went to the nursery often have more issues breastfeeding, making the breastfeeding relationship between mother and baby much more difficult.

But what if my hospital doesn’t allow this?

If your hospital cannot bend to accommodate a mothers wishes, especially something as simple as skin to skin contact after birth, or postponing most newborn evaluations, look for a new hospital that is more mother and baby friendly. It is never too late to change the birth venue.

For more information on Skin to Skin contact and why it is so important for newborns, check out the Mother’s Advocate handout.

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8 comments

tags: birth, blog carnival, breastfeeding, healthy birth, lamaze, mothers advocate, newborns, skin to skin contact
category: Uncategorized

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2

By: Hear Mum Roar Twitter: @hearmumroar

I think skin to skin is great to aim for, but sometimes it’s not always possible. My first child was born premature and I didn’t get to touch her for a few hours or room in with her, but we still have a fantastic bond. I just worked on building a bond in other ways:)
.-= Hear Mum Roar´s last blog ..New toy from Mattel – Peek a Boo clock =-.

3

By: mj

I didn’t know that it was such a special thing to have skin to skin in the OR, but now I realize just how lucky we were.
You can see a picture of us on my blog…
http://www.cesareanparents.blogspot.com
Of course I didn’t know many things about birth policies before my c.s.
.-= mj´s last blog ..Skin to Skin in the OR =-.

4

By: Lynda Twitter: @lynda

“If your hospital cannot bend to accommodate a mothers wishes, especially something as simple as skin to skin contact after birth, or postponing most newborn evaluations, look for a new hospital that is more mother and baby friendly.

ABSOLUTELY. I would honestly be shocked if a hospital refused to allow for these things.

Maybe 90 minutes after my second was born, they took his temperature, declared it to be too low and whisked him away to be put under the heat lamp across the room until he reached a certain temperature. He stayed there for probably a good 45 minutes. I’d just had a c-section and couldn’t get up, nor did I think to tell my husband to screw it and just walk across the room and take him. I called the nurses back every 10 minutes to recheck his temperature and remind them that I wanted him back with me ASAP.

Looking back on the situation though, I am incredulous. If I had it to do over again, I would most certainly have told my husband to go get him and hand him to me, placed him skin to skin and then covered up with blankets. He was not in any danger being a degree or two under what they “liked to see in a newborn” and no reason why he couldn’t have warmed up with his momma’s body heat and covers over the two of us.
.-= Lynda´s last blog ..I Heart Faces Fix it Friday #57 =-.

5

By: Doreen Lombardo Twitter: @deecampisi

In my experience, you can’t just choose a hospital. You must use the hospital where your physician has admitting rights. When I had my kids, I couldn’t choose a hospital, I had to use the one my doctor was affiliated with.

6

By: Danielle

Which is why I advise women to interview providers first instead of just picking blindly and being stuck with
a specific hospital they may not want to deliver at. Too many women just pick a hospital with just any provider or
pick a provider not knowing where they deliver. It should be a process looking at both factors before they make
their choice on where they are going to deliver.

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