Delivery Question

Stay at home and have your baby and your baby will never leave your side :)

I have 3 children. One hospital birth, and two homebirths. I am also a midwife and a former NICU Respiratory Therapist. Your baby is your baby. You tell the hospital staff what you are going to do. If you don't won't your baby to leave then tell them the baby will not leave and whatever they need to do they can do in your room. If you want to give your baby a bath tell the staff you will take care of it. It is not even neccessary to give the baby a bath until you get home. The vernix on the baby is very good for their skin and should not be washed off.

Don't worry how anything will go over with the staff. Remember you are paying them for a service. You are the one in charge. Tell them how it will be. Also don't worry about what any "policy" says. Policies are not laws. They do not have to be followed by anyone that does not want to follow them. If any staff member tells you that there policy is such and such tell them you don't care. You as the parent will decide what your baby will do and won't do.

Blessings to you.

My husband and I gave all three of our babies their first bath. They were wiped off a bit, and the the next day (I gave birth at night or in the afternoon), when we were all a bit over the birth, we bathed them. Everyone in the hospitals I was in did. I think the midwives liked it like that.

Momof3girls said EXACTLY what I was going to tell you!!! Nurses doing the first bath, I'm pretty sure, is just standard practice, and it was a reason piled on top of other reasons against hospital birth for me. I birthed both my babies at home (now 4.5yo and 21mo), and I couldn't imagine NOT birthing at home if we have a 3rd or 4th, etc, unless there are medical reasons. My 1st would have absolutely been a C-section had I had a hospital birth (48 hours of labor, 36 active, 4.5 hrs of pushing), which means my 2nd (8 hours total of labor, 8cm to new baby in 16 minutes)) would probably have been a repeat C-section because it's almost impossible to find a doctor who will do a VBAC these days.

My son didn't get his first bath until he was about a week old, and I think we did it mainly because he went to the pediatrician for the first time at 1 week. My daughter got hers a lot sooner because her first ped visit was Day 2. They really don't need a bath, and I'll add that not only is vernix good for the newborn's skin, it also contains mom's scent, which can facilitate breastfeeding.

Just like it isn't medically necessary (in most cases) to clamp the cord before it stops pulsating (doesn't even need to be clamped if you allow nature to do its thing) or weigh the baby immediately or measure their head or give them the eye ointment, etc etc etc. What IS necessary - as long as baby isn't in distress - is skin-to-skin with mom with immediate access to the breast (if mom is breastfeeding) and a minimum of 30 minutes for the new family to get acquainted. You have to advocate for what you want... and now I'll step off my soap box!!! haha

Anyway, just like Momof3girls said: your baby, your say!

the baby stayed with us, but we didn't give her her first bath. My husband took lots of pictures of it, though. I was shaking too bad for a while after the baby was born, so I was afraid to hold her, let alone bathe her, but I was ok with the nurses doing that part. I would have flipped my lid if they'd tried to take her out of the room, though. I barely even let her sleep in her bassinet, I just wanted to hold her all the time. :-)

My babies were given their bath in the delivery room by the nurse. We were able to watch. Perhaps we could have given the baths, but we didn't think to ask, and I was fine with the nurse doing it.

I didn't think there were hospitals that don't leave the baby in the room with the mom anymore. With all the security things these days I thought the days of the baby nursery were gone. My baby never left my room excpet to be weighed and checked once each day we were there. And my husband gave my babies their first baths. As a side, you are in charge of your delivery, not the doctors and nurses. So what you say goes, NO MATTER WHAT.

There shouldn't be a problem with you wanting to give your child their 1st bath. You just have to ask/ let your nurse know that is something you would like to do yourself. you are the parent & even if it's your 1st baby & don't know how, it is a great time to learn! Your nurses are there to help you & teach you how to care for your newborn. Just let them know what you need! I am an obstetric nurse & when I worked in the hospital I would have been happy to teach my moms/dads to give their newborn a bath, or just standby during the 1st bath to help if needed. There's always hospital policies, but it's really important to speak up and be your own advocate too.

My 2nd didn't leave our room until we all left together-so nice!!!
And he didn't get his bath until he was over 24 hours old...but the nurse did it. DH video taped it.
I was in a fair amount of pain from tearing so I was ok w/ it. Though in my first (unread) birth plan I asked to do the bathing.
I don't think they would have ever considered it at that 1st hospital but they might have at the birth center w/in the hospital I delivered my 2nd in.
I suppose all you can do is ask. :)

The first hosptial we gave birth at I had the baby, she was placed on my chest then whisked out of the room about 20 min later.. I was overwhelmed and didn't know what was going on, my blood pressure shot through the roof and I started swelling but my husband followed her and watched.. This time we're in a different state and a new hospital and they basically don't have a "nursery" for healthy babies.. Once I deliver I get to STAY in the L&D suite (amazing) and the baby doesn't leave my side unless medically necessary (circumcision etc). All shots, exams and anything else is done in our room with us and me and the baby will SHARE a nurse so there's no confusion about care. Amazing right!? Not to mention they actually have a bed for my husband if he stays. We're blown away, they basically told me that if I want a massage during labor they'll bring in a nurse to do it, if I want the lights out, lights go out.. seriously? A hospital that will do it ANY way I want? Yes, please! We can't wait! So to answer your question.. I don't think it's SOP but there are more and more places that are catering to US so I'd be willing to bet it'll start being the norm.. plus how amazing would that be for new parents to see what to do rather than wait a week later and be like "What do i do now?" Thats how I felt.. thank god for parents.

I've never heard of this. I found your post really interesting. I didn't know it was an option in a hospital, but then again, I don't see why they wouldn't let you. I had a very difficult labor, an epideral (sp?) and had a lot of tearing. I don't think I'd have been able to be on my feet. Just for me personally, I'm kinda glad I didn't know about it. I would have felt a little guilty if I didn't do it. Hope you get what you want! I had a doula and she was helpful with letting me know certain things and intervening on my behalf.

We kept both of our babies with us throughout our hospital stays, but they received their first baths from a nurse in the sink in our room. I'm sure if I had asked to do it, they would have let me and just been there for advice or an extra pair of hands. Interesting question...

My kids were preemies...so they were whisked away before I could even think coherently....

I know that our hospital here in Reston, encourages the parents to be with the infants as much as possible!!

Best way to find out is to ask the hospital what their parameters are..

My newest is 4 and that wasn't offered to me.

This sounds so crazy to me because I delivered in a free standing birth center. My son never left my sight ever. I would not go to a place that would take my baby away. Is this normal hospital procedure.

All of my kids were born by c-section, but when they took baby to the nursery for hearing test, first bath, etc. my husband went with. I think he participated a bit as well. I was busy getting put back together.

We did rooming-in with all our kids. Most of the nurses were in favor of this. I had a couple "old school" nurses that were annoyed at having the baby's bassinet in the way and that I always seemed to be nursing, making it more difficult to get access at me for my vitals, etc. WHAT-EVER!

Each hospital has its own policies and it is really best to be educated in advance rather than surprised day of. Be aware that policies do change. I was very upset to learn after my second c-section, that babies were no longer brought to mothers in recovery to attempt nursing. That was really not the time to be learning that little tidbit. I was NOT pleased.