Sure that if we could choose the way we enter this lifeLike any new place, we would not like it to be in a stressful, blinding and deafening way, full of strangers who manipulate us.
It's what babies usually find, but we should try to minimize these effects so that they were born in an environment as cozy as possible.
When the delivery is at home, the conditions are usually more welcoming, because the mother feels familiar with her surroundings, because there are not usually too many people, because the place is conditioned so that she has adequate lighting ...
In the hospital, it is difficult, if not impossible, to control certain aspects in the place where we give birth, such as lighting or the number of staff that assist us, although we have the right to develop a birth plan in which we express All our wishes.
Some factors to receive the baby in a cozy environment They are more easily achievable and should be extended to all hospitals:
- The mother should choose who accompanies her and be alone if she wishes during contractions.
- Both the expansion room and the delivery room should have the doors closed to take care of the privacy that is assaulted so frequently at this time, with the staff, the light and the essential noise.
- The baby should not be separated from the mother unless there is a complication. Skin to skin contact at the time of birth and putting to the chest is important in these minutes of alert.
- The application of antibiotic ointment in the eyes of the newborn can wait after the initial sensitive period.
- The administration of vitamin K, which prevents hemorrhagic disease of the newborn, can also be done after initial skin-to-skin contact.
- Interventions such as gastric aspiration or the introduction of probes in the baby should not be performed systematically.
- A non-premature clamping of the umbilical cord allows a few minutes for the baby to start breathing in his new medium and carries numerous benefits.
- The first recognition of the baby could be performed on the mother, such as the Apgar test at minute and five minutes after birth, without interrupting skin-to-skin contact in the mother's breast. The benefits of early baby-mother contact are countless.
- The parents decide who they want in their room the first hours of life of the baby. This should be a decision respected by family and friends who may be excluded from visits in those first moments when both mothers and babies require tranquility and intimacy. Silence and respect at this time is also important for other mothers and babies who share a room or floor.
- If there is any situation that requires the separation of the baby and the mother, but after the observation it is verified that the baby is recovering or is healthy, it should be resume contact as soon as possible and not lengthen an unnecessary baby income.
- If it is the mother who must be separated, it will be ensured that the baby remains with the father or companion, even in skin-to-skin contact.
The more of these points we achieve, the benefits for mothers and babies are greater.
Fortunately, more and more hospitals add to this quality of care in the first minutes of life of the newborn, although there is still a long way to go and most mothers cannot say that we have given birth in such an ideal environment.
Being born in a friendly and respectful environment favors the bond, breastfeeding, that the baby is more stable, more relaxed mothers ... Above all, a welcome to the world with the least possible shocks is what our babies and ourselves deserve.
Photos | Emery Co Photo and Philippe Put on Flickr
In Babies and more | Good practices in the first hour of life, Ten steps towards a happy breastfeeding, The importance of early contact
