My Must Haves for Baby's Birth
Copyright Sasha Savoy, The Mushy Mommy
Birth plans are huge term these days in the mom and baby world. Let’s face it though, not everyone is on board with the idea of a birth plan and some people don’t even really know what that means; and others don’t always believe it applies to them. I want mamas everywhere to know that a birth plan, whether written down and handed to your doctor or spoken to your nurses on the day of your birth, is NOT just for natural birth mamas, home births, birth clinch and so on. It’s for everyone!
Every birth, no matter the situation or place deserves to have a birth plan or special requests. While you may not want to call it a birth plan or you may not want to type it up and hand it out to your doctor and nurses, there is NOTHING wrong with having desires for your baby’s birth and voicing those. You are your own advocate and voice!
I have learned with each child that I am my own voice. If I don’t demand what I want (assuming that all is well for baby and I) then I may miss out on what could be some very important and special moments for my newborn and I. While many hospitals and physicians are now including more natural minded protocols in their birthing process as research evolves, there are still some things that are being left alone unless a new mama requests it.
If you’re a first time mama, please know that your voice matters. This is your day and there are some wonderful things you can implement into this day to make it more sacred and even more “beneficial” in many ways. While not all births go as planned, many of these things can still be applied even with surgical births. And while this is completely just my viewpoint, please note that there is substantial evidence and research to back up the benefits of some of these wonderful things.
My Must Haves for Baby’s Birth
Immediate skin to skin contact. This is VERY beneficial to you and your baby. For starters it is a wonderful way to bond, but it can also regulate your baby’s heart rate, respiratory levels, glucose, body temperature and more. It is also a very beneficial for breastfeeding. This is a very sacred moment to me and one that I reminisce on for as long as I can. Read more here!
Delayed cord clamp. Thankfully some doctors have recently updated their procedures to accommodate the research with this, but you have the right to request a delayed cord clamp. By delaying the cord clamp, you will wait until the cord stops pulsating (anywhere from 5 or more minutes) so that your baby can receive more of the good stuff. They can receive more iron storage this way which is beneficial to healthy brain development and most of all, it allows more transfer of blood from the placenta to the infant which can increase their blood volume by nearly a third. There are some studies that suggest this will benefit the baby later in life.
Breastfeeding before anything. While you’re having skin to skin with your baby, your doctors will go ahead and take care of the afterbirth process for you (placenta, stitching, etc…). Most of the baby’s vitals can be done while your baby is on you but eventually baby may be taken for a brief minute to do weight, foot prints and other necessary procedures (again based on your preferences). Baby should be given straight to you where at this time, I recommend nursing your little one if breastfeeding is part of your plan. Babies came out pretty ready to suckle and bond, so bringing them to breast as soon as you can is helpful to the journey ahead of you. While most people like to call visitors in right away or do baby’s bath, this can prolong the time your baby will nurse and by the time you finally get to, baby may be frustrated and have a harder time latching. We alway make our company and grandparents wait another 30 minutes to one hour while I nurse the baby. Thankfully we have so far had three babies who latched beautifully and nursed well beyond one year and sometimes I think all of the things we did within those moments after birth played a key role in it. Your visitors will totally understand!
Delayed baby bath. We delay our baby’s bath by several hours (in the past by around 10 or so hours) but this time we will be delaying even longer (by a day or so). While it may seem odd, baby’s vernix that they are covered in helps protect them from outside bacteria. While we totally wipe most of the “junk” off gently, we don’t actually bathe baby clean. That sweet smell and whiteish vernix is very beneficial! This is another protocol that research is deeming beneficial to baby’s latch, as the smells from them is beneficial since their scent will rub off on you and be familiar for them for easy latching. Read more here too!
Taking time for us. This is a hard one because you want your family and friends to come in and relish in the moment of your new, sweet baby. Especially if this is your first or your parents first grand baby, there’s just so much excitement in the whole thing. Part of allowing ourselves that time to nurse baby before company comes, allows us time for just us. It’s special and scared and while daddy may not be able to “feed” baby, he’s always there helping with latch, kissing sweet baby and taking the moments in too. Additionally, you want to make sure that you continue to have your time for you and baby as time goes on. Company will come to visit and if you’re nursing a new baby, you need to feel confident to either nurse with your company present or request for them to step out, or request for them to come between a time frame that you know you shouldn’t be feeding baby. The same goes for once you’re home, when you feel overwhelmed, overly visited and like you need more “time,” there is nothing wrong with asking your family and friends to give you a couple of days while you adjust. Sometimes the adjustment is harder than we realize and just need those moments rather than entertaining company.
Be your own voice. Again, you are the voice for you and your baby. If breastfeeding is important to you, go into it with determination. Things won’t always go smoothly and come naturally, I promise there will be some hardships. But if you stick to it and find help, you will be okay. Sometimes new mamas fear their baby isn’t getting anything from them, starving or more. Unfortunately supplementation with formula make quickly be recommended and a new, exhausted mama will jump on it despite what her heart was set on. While there is nothing wrong with having to formula feed your baby if that’s what happens, what I want new mamas to know is that it is TOTALLY normal that your baby will want to nurse around the clock. Your baby has a stomach the size of a marble at birth and your colostrum is exactly what your baby needs. The more your baby cries to nurse and latches on is actually a good thing, as this will be help bring your milk in. Be your own voice and stick to your guns on nursing a baby. While nurses and family members have the best intentions of helping you, sometimes they lack breastfeeding knowledge. Ask your hospital for a lactation consultant if you need support. BE YOUR OWN VOICE. Your milk is made especially for your baby and it’s such a treasure to bless them with!
The bottom line is to know that you do have options, choices and other protocols that are very beneficial to you and your baby! While we expect our physicians to always do exactly what is best, sometimes we do have to speak up to demand more. Be your own voice and enjoy your birth!