What happens to my baby once labour is over?

[DuelingFanjo]

I have tried to search this on Google but not had much luck. What I wonder is once the baby is out what procedures do they go through and when?

I want skin to skin immediately but wondered - they suck gunge from nostrils, weigh, clamp etc(assuming baby is not in any distress) When does all this happen? What should I expect?

i think it depends on the baby and how s/he is doing - if s/he screams straightaway and is clearing breathing with no probs i think the s-s can happen before they clamp the cord and certainly there is no hurry to weigh.
i had c-sections so slightly different!

This is my experience but can't say if it's the same everywhere.
DD was born, placed on me immediately, skin to skin. Midwife, DH and I towelled her down. Meanwhile the consultant was stitching me up. I had my injection, cord was cut and placenta delivered and I didn't even realise!
I got a good hour of skin to skin and first BF. She was then weighed etc while I got a cuppa and was cleaned up.
It was lovely!

IME, placed directly on chest and both of use wrapped up in blankets while they focus on getting the placenta out. After about half an hour and a feed (am hazy on details) he got weighed, wrapped up and handed to me again.

So is the most important thing that the baby screams? Then it's ok to have skin-skin?

It varies.

Sometimes baby needs resussitating in which case it'll be brought straight over to the resuss table and worked on.

More usually though that's not necessary and in most hospitals they'll place baby straight on your chest and encourage you to latch on. The cord is clamped before it's cut, depending on whether you have the injection or not this could be anything from seconds to hours after the birth. Usually if only minor suction is needed they'll do it in your arms or else they'll bring baby to the resuss table to do it.

It all depends on the type of bith and the hospital in question, for my three:

DD was born blue... they let me hold her for a split second before she was whisked away to be resussitated, i got another quick cuddle and then she went in the incubator as she was cold and wheezing. They stitched me up with her in the incubator beside me and i had my hand through the hole touching her and holding her hand most of the time she was in there.

ds1, same hospital but better birth, was a physiological third stage so i got to hold him and feed him while we waited for the placenta, then he was weighed. tagged and dressed and given back to me. I held him while they examined me and made sure i didn't need stitches.

ds2, different hospital, physiologial third stage again so i got to hold and cuddle while we waited for the placenta again, then he was weighed, tagged and dressed and as soon as i'd been checked we went to the ward. Unfortunately he had aspirated pneumonia so we weren't there long when he was admitted to SCBU.

Had both mine at home - first time they had to cut the cord pretty much straightaway as DS's cord was so short he didn't reach much past my belly button. So they cut and plonked him on my chest pretty quickly, then covered him up with a hat and a towel to help keep him warm. I had quite a long time skin-to-skin, tried first feed etc, then DH had skin-to-skin too while midwives assessed the state of my fanjo. DS was wiped down and weighed at some point after this and my mum got him dressed.

With DD we were able to wait until cord stopped pulsing before clamping and cutting, but otherwise pretty similar to first time.

They do a quick AGPAR on birth, and one about 10 mins later.

DS was born a 9 and after 10 mins was a 10 (he was slightly blue, otherwise fine)

Yes, as long as the baby is breathing and no obvious problems it is usual to have skin to skin straight away I think. With DD she was placed on me very quickly and I held her while the placenta was delivered. While I was stitched up she was weighed, then DH was asked to put a nappy and hat on her and he held her for some more skin to skin until they finished my stitches.

DS didn't cry at all, DD cried when her head was out, so don't know whether the crying is a sign or not.

I grabbed my baby as she was coming out and didn't let go of her for 3 and a half hours.

Nothing was done to her. She had two long feeds before she was even weighed.

HTH

She didn't scream. She was looking around blinking. It was dark in the room so the midwife shone a torch at her to check she was okay-ish. She was born in water so didn't need wiping, but I was handed a towel to keep her warm.

DD didn't cry when born. She sneezed while still half in me though (cs). She was whisked off because of the cs. But was fine. Apgar was 9, just needed to check her over because of distress at the end of labour.

Jareth thank you for that link :)

Never really thought about the cord being too short. I don't want the injection and would like delayed clamping so hope I can reach the baby

summerrain thank you for sharing your births, hope all is ok with your babies now.

RE first feed, do they help you or is it just something you try yourself?

With both DCs I had immediate skin to skin contact for a few minutes. Then DH was asked if he wanted to take his shirt off and hold baby to his chest (he did), whilst I got out of birthing pool, and then the subsequent placenta/stitching issues (I had some blood loss and placenta issues both times so DH had plenty of cuddles).

I was actually given baby back (both births) to try to feed to help with placenta delivery - not that it helped. Both times, baby was not weighed for about an hour. I had both my DCs in a m/w led unit.

LOL, that was the one thing the MW did intervene with. Baby came out and without even checking the sex I was trying to get her to latch on.

Midwife said 'give her a break, she is 2 seconds old'.

You know the BEST thing to do with latching on is to give the baby access and a cuddle in the general area of the nipple but let them find and latch on themselves. Head-shoving and coaching and coaxing etc. interferes with their natural instincts.

If they get the first latch right, they are usually experts from the start, and this means leaving it up to THEM to do it.

It can take up to an hour or so, but if you have uninterupted skin to skin it should happen. Course, this means no drugs have interefered with the process, so don't just ignore a hungry but sleepy baby as they will need to eat shortly after birth for blood sugar levels.

hth

And I delievered the placenta in the water about 35 mins after the birth.

thank you everyone for replying, Hope I didn't sound too stupid

ds didn*t breathe right away but was not floppy at birth so was placed at my chest for about a minute before he was put on the resus table, where he was towelled down got a little oxygen as he was still gurgling for a while.
dd was placed directly on my chest, cord was cut and she stayed there until after I was stiched up. after that she was weight (by dh) and dressed while I had a shower.

And the cord wasn't cut until after I'd delivered the placenta.

When i had my DS he was placed straight on to my chest and me and my DP towel dried him as long as the baby is breathing skin contact is priority, my DP cut the cord a minute or two later. My important advice would be if you are planning on Breast feeding tell your delivering MW, i didn't feed straight away and after a few hours sleep and a bath, moving to the ward, i found it very hard to latch my DS on, maybe doing it straight away would have helped.

Also my DS didn't scream but was completely fine!

I didn't have the injection either time (almost did first time as was getting fed up of waiting). Think delivery of placenta took around 20 mins or so, but I'm a bit hazy on that.

my three were all born breathing, so, quick wipe down, wrapped in towel, handed to me. Cord only clamped and cut when stops pulsing.

then they spend lots of time sneezing out gack, whilst i try to get them latched!
It can take a bit of help - i didn't have aclue first time and flat nipples, so if you have trouble they should give you a hand (one of the MWs got me to squish my nipple so DD1 could suckle - it worked). Ds was a strong feeder from the off so no help required.

Feeding brought on strong after-pains which got the placenta out.

Breastfeeding - very hard to get DS interested, he spent most of his time gazing around the room. We did have a few problems getting started with bf.

DD latched on straight away and had fed at least twice before placenta was delivered. She also pooed meconium all over her towel whilst feeding - a multitasker!

"If they get the first latch right, they are usually experts from the start, and this means leaving it up to THEM to do it."

does this mean if they (we) get it wrong it might be a big problem? I am more scared about the breastfeeding than the labour to be honest

good thread though - not a question i'd considered before giving birth!