I've seen a lot about skin to skin time immediately after birth - how does this actually work? Is this before the baby goes through any testing / cleaning, etc? I'm guessing the new mom takes off the delivery gown thing to put the baby on her chest, but doesn't the baby need to be covered or anything to keep him or her from getting cold after being warm and floating for 9 months? How soon should you try to breastfeed?
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I had immediate skin-to-skin and they put baby right onto me and put a blanket on top. After 30 minutes (I think?) they took LO away to get cleaned up and checked out.
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I was naked when I pushed, so they just handed her right to me to put on my chest. She was in bad shape, though, so they took her from me after she didn't take a breath.
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At our hospital they do immediate skin to skin. As long as mama and baby are healthy they put the baby on your chest right away and clean the baby off while they are on you. They give you an hour until they do anything else. They say your body temperature is the best way to regulate baby's body temperature. If for some reason the mother is unable, they even encourage dad to take off his shirt and do it!
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If the baby is put on your chest and left undisturbed, they will root around, find the nipple, and latch themselves on. I had a hard. time believing it until LO did exactly that. They put a blanket over both of is. My gown could open on the front for breastfeeding purposes as well as initial skin to skin
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They put LO on me right away and I just opened up my gown, then they put warm blankets on us both. They didn't even take her for anything for at least an hour, I was shocked! Then they took her to do some things and gave her right back and we tried breastfeeding and she just took to it...I got really lucky with that one.
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It sounds like your hospitals were all very good about this - is it standard or do you have to specifically request it?
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@berdine: I think its pretty standard. I know the nurse and I also talked about it while I was in labor. Unfortunately DS wasn't breathing when he came out so we didn't get a chance to do it until later that night.
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@berdine: you usually have to request it... Only a few hospitals declare it as policy.
We did immediate skin to skin. While pushing I was so hot I just took off the stupid gown and was naked lol so he was placed on my chest IMMEDIATELY after birth. They just covered him with a warm towel and extra blankets to keep him warm.
We also did delayed cord clamping and held off on all the tests and shots for about half an hour. Then DH had skin to skin with him while I delivered the placenta and got stitched up.
We continued skin to skin for a few weeks after birth too.
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I did immediate skin to skin, as she was being delivered I pulled off the gown to be ready, she was born and then immediately placed on my chest. They cleaned her off while she was on me, covered her in warm towels and us both with blankets. We did skin to skin for an hour, lo had her first breastfeed and then she was weighed, dressed and dh had some bonding time while I got up and had a shower. It was in my birth plan to have skin to skin but its also pretty common to do it here in NZ if both mum and baby are fine. If i had a csection then dh would've done immediate skin to skin while I recovered.
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@berdine: standard practice at my hospital
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Our hospital does immediate skin to skin for an hour. They adjusted my gown before I started pushing so it was off my shoulders and could be quickly pulled down. DH delivered the shoulders and put the baby on my stomach (with the mid wife's help) and they rubbed most of the gunk and blood off him, then DH cut the cord. Then they moved him up to my chest and covered him With a blanket. I breastfed within that first hour. Then they took him over to the warmer to get weighed and measured, footprints taken, blood sugar test, vitamin k shot and eye ointment.
There have been studies showing skin to skin regulates the baby's temperature better than any warmer, and results in better breastfeeding outcomes, among other things, so it's pretty awesome! Plus it's just an amazing bonding experience to have. Baby wants to know where your heartbeat and voice went!
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They push skin-to-skin ("golden hour") at our hospital. They put him on my chest immediately (a nurse helped me take off my hospital gown when the doctor delivered and held him up so DH could see). I had some complications, though so they only left him for a minute or two and then took him for tests/cleaning while they finished with me. He was back on me within 5 minutes.
ETA: Usually they would have left him on me for the first hour.
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We did skin to skin for 2 hours. They placed him immediately on my chest and placed a blanket over us. They wiped him off and checked his heart rate all while on my chest. My hospital gown had snaps on the sleeves and my doula undid them all for me. We had to keep telling them I wanted skin to skin. They were very supportive except one nurse who seemed to be in a hurry to get all the measurements done. Really it's only for their convenience to do all the checks right after. I would definitely let the hospital know and make sure your partner knows too so they can let the nurses know as well.
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I think some hospitals you have to push it more than at others. I was lucky at ours since I didn't mention it and they left us with LO for over an hour before even weighing her. The Dr. said it was the longest time she'd ever let a couple coo with baby for, so we lucked out a bit since I hadn't mentioned it was important to us. I didn't hold her for that whole time, my husband held her while I got stitched up and they did take her at one point to wipe her down or something and she pooped on me so she got wiped down again, but it was the cutest poop. She nursed and snuggled and it was really blissful.
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It was a bit of a blur, but from what I remember they wiped off LO after he came out, stuck a hat on him, and put him on my chest with blankets over him. During skin to skin our doula showed me how to breastfeed him correctly. I think they only weighed him and took his footprints after he had some time on me and had breastfed, then they wrapped him up and gave him to his dad to hold for a while. We didn't request any of this, it was standard procedure where I delivered (apart from the doula, who we brought in ourselves).
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I had to ask for skin to skin. They put lo right on my chest and covered her up with my gown. They did a lot of the cleaning and testing right there, and what they couldn't do they waited an hour for when I was finished and had to give her up for a bit. They did have to take her away to clean her and me up a few times because she kept pooing on me. She pooed four times before they put a diaper on her.
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Our hospital had skin to skin policy. It didn't work out right away because he had a meconium smear and the angle they had me at to stitch me up meant he was lying on my throat. DH took him but he was back to me and breastfeeding within 30 minutes.
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This is my biggest regret with the birth of my LO. I never requested skin to skin and I was so focused with my pushing. When she was born they put her on my chest but I still had my gown on
I had some serious complications with delivering the placenta so after 30 minutes I had to give her to DH and be taken to the OR.
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Standard at our hospital. I got hot during delivery and took my gown off, so I was naked. He didnt latch on right away though.
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@mrskc: yeah same. They were in a hurry to get everything done. Thankfully my midwife was there to help advocate for me!
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@Mrs. Pen: yes I think it's important to have someone advocate for you! I'm so glad I had my doula to remind the nurses of my wishes.
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i had a c section, so it was a bit different as they couldn't put him right on me, but after he was born, i think he was quickly wiped down, weighed, apgar scores calculated and he was given to DH for skin to skin. i am trying to remember the first time i held him and i think it was when i was in recovery room. in the surgery room all i remember is lying on the operating table and looking at him in DH's arms.
I saw another bee on here had a planned c section though and they gave her skin to skin right away....so i know if i end up with a c section for my second baby, i will request it for sure.
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Our hospital does skin-to-skin as a standard practice or at least HIGHLY recommends it. They call it "The Golden Hour" and don't want visitors even during this hour.
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I asked for skin to skin in my birth plan, and they seemed to think it was a pretty normal request. Basically, the baby was placed right on my chest (after the cord was cut b/c she had a really short cord). They kept blankets over baby and me to keep us warm. She had her first shot at breastfeeding, and I think we had about an hour of time together, before they took her for a few minutes for cleaning, weighing, measuring, and shots.
I had some serious complications with delivering the placenta so after 30 minutes I had to give her to DH and be taken to the OR.
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