As soon as the baby is born the priority of the caregiver is observing or ensuring the baby's smooth transition to life on its own. Once this has happened, keeping the baby warm, making sure they have fed and performing any expected routine procedures such as weighing, measuring, giving
Vitamin K, performing an initial
general physical check of the baby and dressing them, will normally follow.
All this care will typically be completed within an hour or two of the baby being born, after which many newborns will fall into a deep, long sleep. In most cases, after this time (unless the woman is recovering from a
Caesarean), the woman will be given space to meet most of her newborn baby's needs (often under some guidance of caregivers). The extent of how much supervision the woman will be given will depend on where she gives birth and where she intends to spend the following few days.
Staying in hospital, early discharge or homebirth
Once you have your baby, your caregiver will spend the next hour or two being quite busy, supervising the woman's and baby's wellbeing and carrying out any required routine procedures. Once this has been completed, the care of both you and your baby will experience an immense transition, to being left alone to rest, recuperate and spend time with your baby. How this transition unfolds will depend on where you have given birth and if your baby is well.
If your baby appears well after the birth but is considered to be 'at risk' of becoming unwell by your caregiver, then they may recommend some routine procedures in the following 24 to 48 hours. This could be because: