Giving birth can be a day that can be memorable for several different reasons. For starters, it can be memorable as it’s probably one of the messiest days of your life. On the other hand, it can also be memorable because it’s the day that the little human you’ve been carrying around for around nine months gets brought into this world.
However, aside from being very memorable, this day is also incredibly important, especially for your child. You see, while a successful delivery can be a cause for celebration, there’s still a number of things that you have to watch out for. This is because the first 24 hours of your baby’s life are the most crucial to ensure that they’re doing okay post-delivery.
There are a number of important things that need to be observed closely from the moment your baby gets delivered up until the 24 hours that follow it. What’s more, these are all crucial to ensuring that your little one is on the right track to being healthy. But, what exactly goes on during their first 24 hours of life? What should you expect? For those of you that want to know, this article will tell you what to expect. So, read on and learn more about what happens during this critical period of your child’s first few hours in this world!
The First 24 Hours
While many mamas think that they don’t have to worry so much about their babies the minute they get delivered, that isn’t exactly the case. This is because the first 24 hours following it are just as crucial as the moments leading up to the delivery. But why is that?
Well, this is because the 24 hours that follow right after your baby gets delivered is filled with things that you have to look out for. These things help ensure that your baby’s on the right track when it comes to their health. It helps you and their pediatrician know that they’ll be okay.
If there should be a cause for concern, this gives their doctor the chance to correct or mitigate any possible problems and ensure that they’re still as healthy as they can be. Time is of the essence in this situation, so the sooner a problem is looked at, the better off your baby is.
Things to Expect
With all that in mind, what exactly goes on during your baby’s first 24 hours? What does your doctor do? What do they look out for? What do they expect? Well, there are a handful of things. Some of these things include the following enumerated below.
1. Timing and Scoring
One of the first things that happens the minute your baby gets delivered would be the timing that the pedia does. From the moment they get delivered, the pediatrician attending your delivery will time the first minute and the fifth minute of your baby’s life. This is because they need to do some scoring. More specifically, they’ll do something that’s called the APGAR scoring.
APGAR is an abbreviation for Appearance, Pulse, Grimace, Activity, and Respiration. Simply put, the APGAR scoring helps assess your baby during their first and fifth minute of life. The doctor will look at their skin color and see if it is pink, for example. This means that they’ve got good blood circulation. They’ll also check for their pulse to see if their heart’s doing a good job or pumping blood, as well as whether your baby has a good and strong cry. These are all signs to ensure that they’re tolerating their first few minutes of life well. The closer the score is to 10, the better.
Later on, your baby will also be evaluated based on their Ballard score. This scoring system evaluates the muscular and nerve development of your child and checks if it matches their gestational age (which is how many weeks your child was in the womb before they got delivered). For as long as their Ballard score matches their gestational age, you’ll have nothing to worry about!
2. Essential Intrapartum Newborn Care
While the APGAR scoring is going on, the doctors will also facilitate what is called the EINC, or Essential Intrapartum Newborn Care. The EINC consists of time-based interventions that are shown to help improve your baby’s health the moment they are born.
The EINC consists of four main things. First, the baby is wiped down and dried immediately. This is to ensure that they do not get cold. Once the baby has been dried, the doctors and nurses will ensure that the baby has skin-to-skin contact with their mother. This is to help transfer the good bacterial flora from the mother’s skin to their child’s, helping build their immune system. Along with the skin-to-skin contact, non-separation of the child from their mother is practiced to ensure that the child is kept warm along with the transfer of good skin bacterial flora. Then, the child’s umbilical cord is clamped at the right time to ensure that they don’t end up anemic or have any other hemodynamic instabilities.
3. Administration of Vaccines and Other Medication
Once your baby’s out of the delivery room and with you in your room, one of the next things to expect would be the administration of vaccines. Within the first 24 hours, your baby’s doctor will give them their first two vaccines, the BCG vaccine and the Hepatitis B vaccine. The BCG vaccine is there to ensure that they don’t get infected with any extrapulmonary tuberculosis (or TB that doesn’t infect the lungs). The Hepatitis B vaccine is there to ensure that they don’t get Hepatitis B.
They’ll also be given a vitamin K injection and have erythromycin ointment applied to their eyes. They’ll need the vitamin K as they don’t have enough in their body during this stage of their life, so they’ll get the shot to ensure they don’t suffer from any serious bleeding (as vitamin K helps in blood coagulation). On the other hand, erythromycin is there to help ensure they don’t get any eye infections.
4. Waiting for The First Poop and Feeding
During the first 24 hours, it’s expected that your baby will have their first poop. This poop, also known as meconium, should come within the first 24 hours to ensure that their digestive system is working properly and that they’re able to poop. Babies that aren’t able to pass the meconium may be at risk for further complications.
5. Feeding Your Baby (A Lot)
Aside from waiting for their first poop, mothers are also encouraged to feed their babies every 3 hours or as needed by the baby. This is to help ensure they get adequate nutrition and also get the immune system boosting benefits that breastmilk can give them. Considering that breastmilk will be their main source of food for the next two years or so, it makes perfect sense that you give them as much of it as possible.
6. Testing for Congenital Diseases
One other thing to expect during the first 24 hours of life would be the tests that the doctors will administer. Usually, these are three tests. The first test would be the test for congenital heart disease. The doctor will measure the oxygen levels on their right hand and foot. A reading that is above 95% and less than or equal to 3% in difference will mean that they do not have any congenital heart diseases.
Then, there’s also the hearing test. The OAE, or otoacoustic emission test helps ensure that your baby has healthy hearing and that their ears do what they’re meant to do. Aside from that, doctors will also run an eye exam. More specifically, they’ll look for a red-orange reflex (ROR) in their eyes, which is similar to the red eye you used to see in people’s eyes in photos. A positive ROR means that their retinas are healthy and their eyes are good!
In their first 24 hours of life alone, there’s already a lot that goes on in your baby’s life, and rightfully so! You see, these are all necessary to ensure that they’re healthy. Should there be something wrong, this gives your doctor the chance to intervene as soon as possible and take care of any concern as soon as possible. However, if all goes well, after the first 24 hours, your baby will be able to go home with you and get started on the rest of their growth and development journey!
