Giving birth is an overwhelming experience, not least worrying about your newborn’s first hours of life. While almost all hospital staff and medical professionals are excellent at their jobs, mistakes do happen. So keep an eye out for the following things immediately after giving birth.
Being Handled with Care
First and foremost, is the medical team handling your baby with the due care and attention it deserves? Believe it or not, 2% of babies develop what is known as cephalohematoma, which is a bump on the head that can be fatal. Often this is a result of a difficult vaginal birth. However, not handling the baby correctly can also cause this. If this happens to your baby, you can file a lawsuit with help from a professional legal team with experience in baby hospital negligence.
Special Attention to Baby Eye Care
Don’t take it the wrong way, but hospital staff need to be sure that there are no common infections that can damage your baby’s eyes. Common drops and ointments include treatment for sexually transmitted infections such as chlamydia and gonorrhea. This is often only a precaution and not a judgment upon you as a person. Of course, if they don’t administer these, you should request them because you can have certain STIs and not even know you do.
Your Newborn’s First Hours and APGAR Test
The first thing a nurse or doctor should do when you give birth is check the baby’s overall health. This is known as an APGAR test and includes checking your baby for various things:
- Appearance: checks there is no blueness in the extremities or the entire body.
- Pulse: checks for a nice and fast heart rate of over 100 beats per minute.
- Grimace: nurses may do a mild pinch to check your baby’s reflexes and response.
- Activity: observations are made to make sure the baby is moving and active after birth.
- Respiration: checks baby’s breathing and if they are crying, which is a good sign.
The APGAR test is standard for every birth in a hospital and takes a few minutes. This is typically done one to five minutes after birth and before you are handed your beautiful baby.
Baby’s Hearing Tests
Hearing loss is hard to spot in newborn babies, so a hearing test is often done at some point before you leave the hospital. It isn’t invasive and just requires a tiny pair of headphones. This is done to make sure there are no defects that can cause developmental problems. This is vital because catching issues early can help you remedy them faster than later in your life. So always ask if this test has been done, and book one in the rare instance it has been overlooked.
Necessary Shots and Vaccines
This is somewhat controversial, but newborn babies do require certain vaccines and shots. For the most part, these are vitamins and minerals to ensure they develop correctly. But there are more serious shots, such as the hepatitis B vaccine. The HBV virus can cause extreme issues such as damaged liver and a lifelong infection. So it helps to put your baby’s health first and ask if this has been done. If not, schedule an appointment as early as possible to have it done.
Summary
Your newborn’s first hours in life are critical to health. They must be handled with care to avoid bumps, an APGAR test should be done, and the baby shouldn’t leave without an HBV shot.
