Natural Newborn Care: Your Earliest Moments Together
You'll welcome your newborn with open arms. After a healthy pregnancy and a great birth you'll be excited and ready to give your baby the best.
Even if there were unexpected separations between you and your baby you're still able to give the newest member of your family a great start.
The First Moments
You'll want to be with your newborn as soon as possible after birth. Skin to skin immediately is the best - though not required.
Human beings do not have the same vital "imprint period" that other animals do. You can be assured of the truth of this by the loving, attached adoptive families all over.
Wherever you give birth require that your baby be brought to you as soon as possible.
If there are no complications with your birth or with your baby, insist that your baby be allowed to go straight up onto your chest.
If your baby is born at home or in a birth center this will probably be a given. If you're giving birth in a hospital request that all newborn procedures be delayed until after your baby's first nursing.
If your baby is adopted request that you be able to be there as soon as possible after birth. Arrange to spend plenty of time bonding with your baby if he or she is older.
Remember that a baby who is being adopted or who has had a traumatic birth experience may take some time to "warm up" to you. Be assured that you will be able to bond with your baby and don't stop trying.
Holding a resistant baby fully swaddled or clothed and gradually moving towards more skin-to-skin contact may be helpful as he adjusts to a new life.
Allow your baby time to rest if she seems tired or over-stimulated, but try to encourage your baby to make eye contact with you. Swaddling helps many babies feel secure, not just babies who arch or fuss about being held.
Routine but Not Required - Newborn Procedures
Your baby does not need to be taken from you immediately to have tests and procedures done. If fact even your baby's weight check can be delayed.
Your doctor or midwife will probably do an APGAR score of your baby, which tests your baby at 1 and 5 minutes after birth.
APGAR stands for Activity (muscle tone), Pulse, Grimace (reflexes), Appearance (skin color), and Respiration. It is an assessment that your care provider can make while your baby is with you. There is no need to take the baby away.
Keep your baby warm with skin-to-skin contact. You can place your baby on your chest and cover both of you with warmed blankets. The routine practice of isolating a new baby bundled up in a warmer is not necessary.
Place a soft cloth or small disposable pad ("chux pad") under your baby's bottom if you're worried about meconium getting on you. (Meconium is the sticky substance that makes baby's first bowel movements, more on that later in this article!)
Cutting the cord as soon as your baby emerges is not required. In cases where your baby's cord is wrapped tightly around his neck it may be cut immediately. But normally you should make it clear you want your baby's cord to stay intact until it has stopped pulsing.
Your baby gets a lot of oxygen-rich blood in those last few minutes the cord is attached. It's so significant that your baby gets almost a month's supply of iron from that blood.
Your baby may be covered in vernix, which is a creamy white substance. In the womb vernix protects your baby's skin. Once your baby is born you can rub any vernix into her skin. Think of it like rich body butter made just for your baby.
Rubbing can help your baby if she is "slow to start," but a vigorous rub down to clean the vernix off of your baby isn't necessary. A full term baby may not have much vernix on her.
Invasive Procedures
Eye treatment is given to babies to help prevent infections that the baby may have picked up on their trip through the birth canal.
In some states in the United States it is a law that babies have this treatment. It is irritating to babies' eyes and causes blurry vision.
If your state requires it request that it be delayed for an hour or so. If you have the option to opt out of it you may want to do so. You should consider the risks and the benefits of opting out of the treatment.
Vitamin K is another routine treatment given to babies. It's believed to help newborn blood to clot (because newborn blood is low in vitamin K for the first several days after birth.)
Vitamin K can be given as an injection or orally. It's a foreign substance introduced into your baby's body. Newborns begin Vitamin K production around the eighth day of life. It is another natural newborn care issue that you will want to consider carefully.
If you are in the hospital the issue of vaccinations will probably come up. The Hepatitis B vaccine is often given to newborns. You will want to research the Hep. B vaccine, and all vaccines, very carefully. Read through Mothering Magazine's vaccine coverage for some excellent critical reviews of the vaccine program. Request information from the CDC for well-written pro-vaccine information.
Getting a balanced view is a good idea. Do not let anyone force you into getting your child vaccinated if you choose to delay or forego vaccination.
One of the most emotionally charged newborn care choices today is that of circumcision. Your baby does not need to be circumcised. It is a surgery that will be done on your newborn baby boy. Your newborn does feel pain. You will be making the choice to remove a significant part of your son's anatomy. Understand the full implications of choosing circumcision for your baby.
If you do decide to have a circumcision performed on your baby waiting until your newborn's own vitamin K production has begun around the eighth day of life is a wise choice.
This age is traditional in cultures that circumcise for religious or cultural reasons. Consider requesting that a specialist perform the surgery on your baby and insist on pain relief for your child. Again, realize that circumcision is a surgery to remove part of your son and it is not medically necessary. Weigh the choice carefully.
A Celebration Supper
Your baby's first meal should be colostrum from your breasts. Some hospitals will try and take your baby away to give a drink of formula or sugar water ("glucose" water.) Do not allow this.
Getting your breastfeeding relationship off to the best start means nursing as soon as possible after birth. Within the first thirty minutes is ideal. You do not want your baby to be given any supplements that may make it harder for your breastfeeding relationship to get off to an excellent start.
Your baby will instinctively search for your breast. Observers have noticed that newborns placed on their mother's chests will actually "creep" towards her breasts to latch on. It is an amazing ability of the newborn baby.
Your baby's immediate nursing is also wonderful for you. Her sucking stimulates your uterus to contract, which lessens your blood loss and helps expel your baby's placenta.
These early minutes and hours with your baby are a priceless time. Take the time that you need to bond with your baby, or just to be with your baby. In most cases, everything else can wait!