At birth, the baby is placed on the mother’s tummy. the Apgar test is performed 1 minute and then 5 minutes after birth. This score, given on a scale of 1 to 10, assesses the baby’s vitality based on several criteria: the color of his skin, the state of his heart, his reactivity, his tone, the state of his breathing. A number of treatments can be done without separating him from his mother..
However, in a type 3 maternity hospital with high-risk pregnancies (prematurity, growth retardation in utero, etc.), surveillance is reinforced at birth. Assessment of the baby’s adaptation to ectopic life is a priority. The priority is that he breathes well and does not get cold.
Care after birth: limit invasive procedures
To welcome the newborn, pediatricians are increasingly abandoning invasive care.
It has in fact been proven that this practice disrupts thenewborn sucking instinct and its sensations. In the past, pediatricians also passed a catheter through the stomach to check the esophagus for patency. This examination is no longer systematic. Esophageal atresia is a very rare disease and today there are other warning signs to detect it (hyper salivation, excess amniotic fluid during pregnancy).
Historically, the pediatrician also put drops in the eyes babies to prevent the transmission of sexually transmitted diseases, including gonococcal infection. As the frequency of this type of pathology is very rare today, this examination is no longer justified.. Moreover, the National Agency for the Safety of Medicines and Health Products (formerly AFSSAPS) questioned the value of this preventive treatment and limited it “in the event of a history and / or risk factors. of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in parents ”. The idea is to limit as much as possible the invasive gestures which are stress factors for the baby, which can hinder the success of breastfeeding.
Weighing, measuring … no rush
For the rest, routine care (weighing, umbilical cord, measurements, etc.) can be postponed after skin to skin. “The priority is for the baby to meet his mother and start feeding whatever the choice of breastfeeding”, insists Véronique Grandin.
Thus, the baby is weighed once the mother goes back to her room, knowing that there is no emergency. Its weight does not change immediately. Likewise, his height and head circumference measurements can also wait. After birth, the newborn is in a fetal position, it takes a few hours before “unfolding”. We also no longer wash the baby at birth. The vernix, this thick yellow substance that covers his body, has a protective role. We recommend leaving it. As for the first bath, it can wait two or three days.
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