What happens right after you give birth?

[vix1980]

This is my 1st currently half way through and i suddenly started wondering last night what happens during the birth?

I know obviously you push the baby out and all that bit but then what?? do they take the baby away to weigh it and check it? how long for? how does the placenta come out, is it on its own or do you push it out? is it right after the baby is born or later on, and does it hurt? then how long do they leave you alone for? me and my oh are totally clueless about all this so it would be nice to have some kind of idea, even stitches and all, i can take it!

I would also like answers to the same questions. Baby books seem to completely ignore that part of childbirth and the next book up is always from when you get back home and starts with feeding.

Depend on how the birthhas gone. IME weighing not done straight away, baby put on chest while placenta delivered, first feed, presumably some visual checks. Weighing within the first couple of hours

Placenra, you can choose but most peoplehave injection and placenta delivered fairly quickly, midwife pressing on stomach. You do haveto push but its nothing compared to pushing the baby out

Usually skin to skin cuddles with mum, check you for any tears etc, bring you a cuppa & some toast and take lots of pics/call people.

Placenta - you can have an injection & it will come out quite quickly or have a physiological 3rd stage & wait for it to come out while you cuddle the baby.

Ok as soon as baby is out you can do skin to skin if you want to. It's up to you if you want baby to be cleaned up first. I didn't as I just wanted to get my hands on her! I had to push out the placenta but it didn't hurt at all after pushing out a whole baby. It's faster if you have the injection to help get it out although I have no memory of having it. When baby was weighed the scales and stuff were in the labour room so she was never out of hour sight. We had a good 3 hours after the birth in the birthing suite before going onto the ward and had chance for a shower. We were mostly left alone once the clean up was done except for someone popping every half hour to check we were ok.

Oh yes and I would have happily married the midwife who brought me tea and toast afterwards!

Assuming that all has gone smoothly, they usually make sure the baby is ok (breathing, crying, that sort of thing), wrap it up in a towel and then give it to you or your partner to hold. Skin to skin contact immediately after the birth is recommended, as it helps the baby to stabilise its temperature, heart rate, breathing, and is helpful with breastfeeding - if that's what you intend to do, you can offer the breast straight away and see if your baby latches on. Skin to skin is also just lovely anyway, getting to hold your little person for the first time after all that effort and waiting.

The placenta may be easily pushed out afterwards or may need a bit of help from midwives. Occasionally it can refuse to come out, which means you might need to go to theatre to have it removed. Neither of mine hurt coming out, tbh it was a relief after all those painful contractions.

They will check you over to see if you need stitches, make sure you haven't lost too much blood and are generally okay. They should also offer you tea and toast - say yes!

Obviously this is the best case scenario, where everyone is fine and no one needs any extra help. It's worth discussing all possible outcomes with your mw just so know what the procedure is in case anything unexpected happens, and so you can make your wishes known. E.g. I made it clear that if the baby needed to be whisked away for any reason, I wanted to be told where and why, and DH was to go along if at all possible.

It's really recommended to have skin to skin time with the baby straight away. It's up to you if you want the cord cut straight away or perhaps if you would prefer it to be delayed slightly. You can read up online on that subject. I was told that if the placenta didn't come along after an hour they would help me along with it, either with an injection or something similar. It felt like a relief for me to get the placenta out.

While you have the baby skin to skin on your chest the midwife can do some visual checks. You can say you do not want the baby taken away and weighed, its so lovely to be able to bond straight away. Hopefully you will be encouraged to breast feed prett soon after birth.

You can google such things as skin to skin, delayed cutting of the cord, and other things too.

Ask your midwife all of these questions when you have your next appointment as some hospitals might have different ways of doing things.

I am in Australia and was offered a vitamin K injection for the baby after birth and a hepatitus b injection, i did some reading up and refused the hep b injection. I'm not sure if they do similar in the UK. Ask your midwife they will be happy to answer all questions!

good luck to you.

oh yes - they might clean up the baby but you can tell then not to if you would prefer. I have read that the vernix is very good for the baby so I didnt want it cleaned off.

It's very unlikely that your baby will be taken out of your sight at all (unless they need to go to SCBU).
They are usually given straight to you and you can lay them skin to skin on your chest, they will usually start rooting around looking for their first feed. Nursing will help the placenta along. There is no need for them to be weighed or cleaned straight away and the midwife can check them while you hold them. if you want this, it is worth adding to your birth plan that you want skin to skin straight away. It is recommended the baby gets an hour uninterrupted with you to get the best start for nursing.

If you have a physiological third stage, it might take an hour to come out, the mw will tell you what you need to do. If you have the injection it will be quicker. There are pros and cons to both. This is a fair summary www.thirdstageoflabour.org/thirdstage2.html. The main downside to the injection is that you can't have "delayed" cord clamping (where all the blood from the placenta is allowed to return to the baby before the cord is cut) which is quite beneficial for the baby. If you do want a managed third stage, you can ask them to wait 2 minutes to clamp the cord, which is a fair compromise.

Thanks for that its cleared up the birthing bit that heaps of the books have left out, so i know ill get put on a ward maybe (although i have heard of a friend who went into have her baby at 2am was in her own home again by 8 the next morning as everything had gone well) is this usual for them to send you home so quickly or a bit rare??

so when im on the ward how many other people approx are there? do i keep the baby by me all night long? won it wake everyone else up if it cries in the night? (secretly wondering how ill manage to sleep with everyone else's baby crying too) do they have private rooms instead? will they tell me when to feed the baby? then can i come home the next day?

as you can tell im very very naive about what will be happening and i hope ive given all the non 1st time mums a good laugh with my innocence

Mine went like this:

baby born (me on all fours) and put on chest (me on back) for skin to skin (no stitches - lucky me)

Placenta pushed out at some point (time was standing still as I was so wrapped up in ds, maybe half an hour later). It was nothing to write home about, no mw pushed my tummy, no injection to speed it up, which was something I didn't fancy. She did show it to us though so we could see it was all intact and none left in. Was very interesting - didn't get the urge to eat it though!

baby weighed and given vitamin K injection. Strange rash spotted so consultant had a look

baby given to dh while I went for a bath to clean up

Me and DH chilled out for a while. Then sent to special care for rash thing, which turned out to be nothing. can't remember when he had first feed, but it was some time after the birth.

Things I wish I had known:

5 days after birth a HUGE blood clot the size of an apple came out and fell down my trouser leg!!! I didn't know what it was and had a right fright. It was nothing to worry about though.

My friend turned down the injection for placenta delivery but was in a hospital where it was total norm, the midwife forgot and pulled on the cord to make it come faster (which is fine if injection has been given) and she ended up bleeding profusely (doesn't happen if it is left to its own devices) and now she is considered high risk for any future birth which means she can't opt for home birth - which is bad as she would love that.

I was scared to death to have a poo (sorry) for 3 days... as it all felt so different down below and I expected it to hurt like hell... it didn't (but I wasn't wounded as such)

Babies don't automatically know how to feed (I sort of thought it was a bit plug and go) and some are slow to learn and that can be really hard, I was glad of midwives to help me figure out how to help him latch on as we would have been screwed without them.

Not all first labours are horrendous - some are quite easy in fact.

Good luck. x

dd was put straight onto my chest, she was so slimy and felt like a bag of bones but I enjoyed the cuddles all the same.

DH cut the cord.

My mum & DH were both in the labour suite so while DH and I were loving our little girl, mum was busy taking pictures and I'm so glad she did :)

I had an epidural and tbh I forgot all about it until I had this 'plop' feeling down below, that was it out (not the nicest feeling imo)

Then it was a midwife who suggested that I feed her, I lost all sense of what I was supposed to be doing - I forgot that the baby I'd delivered would actually need 'looking after' Just when I thought the hard part was over!!

So I fed dd while DH sent text messages to family, spoke to his parents and such like. More pictures. More cuddles.

Sometime during all this dd was cleaned up, weighed and wrapped up all nice and cosy. Then while my mum dressed dd, I was cleaned up - no tears, no stitches etc, just a bit of cleaning and transferring into a proper bed.

Then dd was given to me to hold while we were wheeled into the ward. It was the best feeling in the world. I have never felt so serene and calm in my whole life.

I'd love to do it again. But practicalities dictate that this is unlikely.

Good Luck OP :)

I'd wanted skin to skin for a while before anything else, unfortunately cord was very short and I couldn't get DD on my chest so the cord had to be cut straight away. She was also very sleepy so the midwives did the weighing and checks to wake her up a bit, I didn't want the vernix cleaned off. I then had skin to skin and breastfed her whilst my placenta was delivered (it took me an hour to deliver the placenta but I think that's not too common). Then DP took her for skin to skin whilst I had stitches and was cleaned up a bit. Then midwives brought tea and toast and left the three of us alone for quite a while. This was all done in the room where I gave birth so baby was not out of my sight. If I have a 2nd I'd love to have more skin to skin before the cord was cut as I felt a little like she was whisked away too quickly, although she was back in my arms 6 minutes after she was born!

Have a think about the experience you want and make sure you include it in your birth plan and tell your midwives.

the 'plop' thing refers to the placenta - I should've typed that, sorry

each hospital has different ideas on when u can go home at the earliest. Some from 4-6 hrs after birth. Depends on everything being well, baby feeding and you feeling cnfident to feed the baby etc.

My experience was slightly different to most I suppose. I gave birth on all fours, and the baby was passed up to me by my husband who then cut the cord. They then helped me turn over on to my back, where I had skin to skin contact with baby and attempted to breast feed. I was given an injection to help deliver the placenta...... but nothing. Midwives, doctors, pretty much everyone came to have a push on my belly and a tug on the cord... but nothing. It was about two hours before I went to theatre the whole time spent with my baby, she was only briefly taken to be weighed and that was after some time skin to skin and bfeeding (well attempting anyway).
My husband stayed with the baby when I was taken to theatre and placenta was removed after a spinal block (they also did my stitches at the same time).

I was quite lucky as although my placenta was stuck - I wasn't bleeding, it would all have happened much more quickly in that scenario.

I still look at my birth as a positive experience though (I actually enjoyed it...). I've been told I would most likely have a retained placenta next time too as I have something called a bicornuate uterus.

You will be able to go home when you feel up to it, but they may like to keep you slightly longer for a first baby to make sure feeding is established.

There will be other people on the ward (typically a bay with 5 other people). There will most likely be crying that will wake you up, and if you have a baby that cries then they will wake others.
There are private rooms, but you are unlikely to get one if you have a straightforward delivery. Sometimes it is possible to pay for a private room, but that is olny if they have one free.

You will need to keep an eye on when to feed the baby. If BF it should be easy to spot, and you should be able to get advice from the ward staff on positioning etc.
You will probably also be shown how to wash the baby.
A paediatrician will check the baby over from a point of view of its health.

You will most likely go home the next day unless there was something complicated about the birth - even CS and 3rd degree tears can get home the next day.

For me - DS1 was delivered onto my chest for immediate skin-to-skin; while I was cuddling him, I delivered the placenta. After placenta was delivered, DH took DS1 for his first cuddles while I had a quick bath (was a homebirth). After that, I got knickers and pads on and settled into bed with DS (who was still undressed at this point) for more skin-to-skin and the MW helped with latching on. DS was weighed and measured about an hour after birth (and I think given vitamin K at this point) and then DH got him dressed. The MWs were writing up their notes at the same time, so they left quite soon after DS was dressed for a few hours and then came back a little later on in the evening.

For me delivering the placenta was immediate (within 20 mins) as I had the injection to help it along, as the cord was around DSs neck and had to be cut to get him out. It took 2/3 contractions (not as intense as the contactions to deliver DS) and a bit of tugging from one of the MW. I think if you go the natural route for delivery of the placenta, it can take longer (but everyone is diffeent). While waiting for the placenta to deliver, the MW took a look at my vagina for any damage and discovered just the slightest graze, so discussed that with me quickly - explaining that there was no need for stitches, etc. If there had been a need, I would have been stitched as soon as the placenta delivered. While DS was with DH and I was in the bath, one midwife was helping me wash and the other examined the placenta and wrote up the birth/delivery notes/helped DH.

I was on a complete endorphin high as soon as DS was delivered and couldn't stop talking for hours afterwards - which was quite a shock at the time.

Remember, you can express your wishes for what happens when you delivery in your birth plan, so if you want the baby straight onto your chest you can or if you want DH to cut the cord etc. Things might not necessarily go the way that you plan and you might have to be flexible but you should be able to say, in an ideal situation this is what we want to happen.

The mws won't send you home until you are well and baby is feeding, but it can be as quick as 6 hours, they aren't going to turf you out before you are ready.

Hospitals vary, but wards tend to be 4-6 people, it might not be full. You will keep your baby, newborn cries are pretty quiet, and new babies tend to be a bit knackered and sleep anyhow, usually they are feeding or sleeping so don't make a lot of noise. Some hospitals have private rooms, I had one, but I was post c-sec, so in for a few days and quite poorly. It is worth finding out if your hospital does tours so you can get familiar with the place and ask questions. Your baby will tell you when they are hungry, they make sucking noises and nuzzle you. The midwives can give (or refer you to) support if you struggle to feed, there should be a feeding consultant, breastfeeding councellor or at least peer supporters available. One thing that threw me was nappy changing, I had no idea when to change him (I was also unable to change him myself while in bed with a catheter), so do that every few hours when baby is not sleeping or feeding! If you are on a ward, a more experienced mum might be able to answer questions too.

The baby will have a crib in your cubicle, you can put them in bed with you with the rails up to feed lying down and have a snooze yourself (some mws don't like co-sleeping, some will encourage it). The mws can also take the baby for a while if you desperately need a rest, but tbh get your partner to do this, it's important bonding time for the baby so it's better they get to know their caregivers.

On the ward you may be in a private room, a four or six bed bay or a nightingale ward it depends on your hospital. Baby will be with you, yes you will hear other babies crying. As for when to feed, at least every three hours but in practice probably whenever the baby wakes up and cries! Dies your hospital do tours of the delivery suite, if so do one.

In the postnatal ward room I was in there were five beds. If baby is well (the most likely outcome of course!) the baby will be with you all the time you are there. There is a nursery but your baby won't go there unless you need to go somewhere without your baby - or if you are having a hard time and need some sleep the midwives might offer to take your baby to the nursery for a couple of hours. I will admit to doing this on night 2! Yes your baby will cry in the middle of night, usually at a different time to the other babies on your ward! But everyone is in the same position. The midwives are there to help you through the night as well, and I did call for help with feeding and settling my baby at night. Although the lights will be turned off in your room, you have your own light in your cubicle you have control of. So if someone is awake and feeding their baby, there will probably be a light on. I think private rooms depends on your hospital. Where I was there were private rooms you could pay for (about £100 a night I think!). A private room was available when I was there but I felt I got more attention in the shared room, although I definitely didn't sleep well because of all the crying babies! (I had a c-section so I was in for 3 nights)

You should get a tour of your ward as part of your ante-natal course. My ward was 4 people. Yes it can be noisy with all 4 babies in their (and the inconsiderate people yakking on the phone late at night )
My hospital had single rooms you could pay a fee to be in.
Your baby will stay with you all the time unless you ask a midwife if you can leave it with them between feeds for a little stroll.
I was desperate not to stay in hospital but was glad I had to in the end as ds wasn't feeding well and we needed support with that. Some babies are fine with this tho. They will normally make you stay until you have had at least one successful feed, or you could be in a proper pickle. Unless you plan to use bottles of course.

If both you and the baby are well, they can discharge you 6 hours after the birth. I did this with both of mine. But they won't force you to go so soon if you're not ready to, so say what you'd prefer.

You'll probably have a couple of hours in the labour room, just you, partner and the baby, then they'll move you to a ward. IME it's not a huge ward though, I had 4 beds to a room. With DD1 only one other bed was occupied, with DD2 it was just us. Obviously it depends how busy they are.

Most hospitals do a 'tour' of the labour ward, I'd really recommend you do this if offered because you'll have a chance to ask questions like this. All hospitals are a bit different, so makes sense to find out how yours is run.

Things I found really helpful and did not know about beforehand:
We had nusery nurses who were there to help you breastfeed and showed you (amongst other things) how to bath and change baby - you had to ask, though.

Our hospital did not supply cotton wool/wipes/nappy bags/nappies - I sort of assumed they would, but they didn't - worth asking before you go!